


in tandem

by breadwin



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Salon Setting, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, doyoung really said go big or go home, kunten and nomin if you squint, lots of questionable hair choices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26045917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breadwin/pseuds/breadwin
Summary: “Jaehyun.”The contact sets Jaehyun’s skin alight, his pulse throbbing and heart hammering loudly. There’s silence between them now, with only the quiet background sounds of a variety talk show playing on TV and the muffled chattering in the main salon space.Jaehyun’s heart rate knows no bounds, when he sees the way Doyoung flickers his gaze to his lips and swallows.He’s in trouble.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung
Comments: 20
Kudos: 129
Collections: jaedo digest: vol. 2





	in tandem

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Prompt no #036! Thank you to the prompter for coming up with a salon based au - I had a lot of fun writing it!! 
> 
> I don't have experience working at a salon, so a lot of it might be inaccurate, but what I know is mostly based off my experiences at the salon I go to when I'm home in Asia! 
> 
> Thank you so much to my lovely beta, Ace, who helped me review and look over my work several times!! ♡ AND THANK YOU TO THE MOD WHO LOOKED AT MY WORK IN MY FINAL HOURS your comments are 10/10 lolol.Also thank you to Genie and Col for watching my descent into multiple breakdowns over salon au and FINALLY finishing it - y'all truly the MVPs hehe and this is dedicated to you.
> 
> dojae nation lives on crumbs, so here's my tiny bit of crumb for us. fellow dojaers, pls stay strong <3

Out of all the days that Jeong Jaehyun could expect some nice coffee to get through yet another physically draining day, today is _not_ the day.

Because it’s Yuta, the coffee isn’t stirred enough for the sugar granules to dissolve completely. The sweetness collates right at the bottom of the mug and the top layers of coffee are left bitter, even though Jaehyun oddly reminisces on the taste that his fifteen year old self preferred, when he was giving his first go at drinking coffee.

It’s so very like the way Yuta is as a person, slightly chaotic and a bit too sweet for some people’s liking.

Jaehyun lets himself swallow down the remainder of the lukewarm coffee before setting it down onto the sink, wiping his washed hands over his work apron.

It’s only 10AM and yet it feels like it’s midday with how everyone’s bustling about, either dragging the styling trolley behind them or holding tools in their hands. There’s some form of noise in every inch of the room, loud chatter and even louder hairdryers. The distinct scent of salon brand shampoo in the air seems denser today, but either way Jaehyun takes it all in without too much thought.

He starts work by organising the trays, making sure everything is accounted for before pulling the combs free of stray hairs and gathering together the black clips, all ready to go in a bowl. Several spray bottles have already been lined up according to hair type needs and Jaehyun does a quick count, before double checking them for any broken seals.

The newer, unopened bottles will definitely be used over the course of the day, in more generous amounts for the several high profile clients coming in for gala awards, whilst the ones that were already open have been whisked away by Minho an hour ago for an early morning client.

When he finally looks up from his prep work, Jaehyun zeroes in on Yuta leaning against the reception desk, his body draped leisurely over the desk like a lazy cat basking in the sunshine without much care.

“Yuta, don’t you have work to do?”

The other colour technician twists around at the sound of Jaehyun’s voice, only to stick his tongue out in response to his question. Jaehyun only blinks before letting out a soft sigh.

“I haven’t been booked until nine,” Yuta sings with an easy grin when Jaehyun approaches them. “The next one on the list is Jeonghwa and she hasn’t told us what colour she’s going for today yet, so I can’t even do much prep work apart from getting the charts ready.”

“Didn’t she say last week that she just wanted a refill of her current shade for tonight?” Jaehyun frowns.

He distinctly remembers Jeonghwa telling him to remind her not to let her pick anything else apart from her current toffee brown shade at her next appointment, despite Jaehyun finding it more funny than anything.

Indecisiveness is truly catastrophic.

“Eh, who knows. That girl changes her mind so often, I doubt she’s going to make a decision even when she’s finally here,” Yuta reminds him. “If you recall the last time she was here, she wanted to go either purple or brown, but then she saw my hair and I had to wait for another fifteen minutes for her to make a final decision.”

Yuta’s blonde hair is pulled back into a mini bun today instead of a usual headband, and a few loose tendrils frame his face.

It’s become the classic Yuta look, ever since Jaehyun helped him dye his hair blonde a few months ago as part of a completely improvised makeover, which was really just Yuta going through another post breakup routine. He goes through a different routine every time a relationship ends and somehow Jaehyun thinks he might have seen most of it.

There’d been the time where he had gone straight into playing Overwatch for a couple of days and Jaehyun had awoken to him noisily jumping around on the sofa outside after winning a couple of matches at three in the morning. Or there was the smoothie making era after the breakup with Kim Inseong, a popular soloist, who he dated for a month. Both Jaemin and Seulgi had been called over to their apartment and been as equally confused as Jaehyun was when he opened the door for them, until Yuta strolled out in a Pororo apron and wordlessly presented them with several litre bottles of fruit smoothies to take home.

It was a wonder that he took that long before going through a hairstyle change for his post-breakup activity, but considering he worked as a colourist, there must have been some form of self restraint in Yuta not to dive straight for his hair every time this happened. Jaehyun admires him for it, and thanks the heavens for not imposing the damage his hair could have seen otherwise.

“I just want a change,” Yuta had insisted, hands clutching Jaehyun’s like a lifeline at breakfast one morning. Jaehyun hadn’t even taken his second bite of kimchijeon yet. “It’ll be fine, Jae. Hair grows back. I can cut it off too if I end up hating it, but just help me get rid of this colour.”

So in the end, Jaehyun picked a nice platinum shade that he could picture Yuta in, sat him down in front of the bathroom mirror and spent the rest of his day listening to Yuta’s rant on how terrible a match Minhyuk ended up being during their short two weeks of dating, whilst carefully beginning the process of dying his best friend’s hair.

Looking at it properly now that it’s gone through at least a wash or two, Jaehyun decides that it suits him surprisingly well.

Yuta had already gone through the compliments of looking like he truly belonged in an anime the first few days of it being dyed, which had served Jaehyun an ego boost to no end.

It was definitely worth all the arduous hours he’s put into it, even if their bathroom smelt overwhelmingly of hydrogen peroxide for the next two days and Yuta’s favourite rug was left ruined.

There’s a single airpod stuffed in Yuta’s ear again. Jaehyun can bet fifty-thousand won that the other airpod is already lost somewhere and that Yuta will grovel about it for a day until he finds it somewhere obscure like in the kitchen cabinet.

But like he sometimes does, Jaehyun carefully pries Yuta’s airpod free to plug it into his own ear, a habit they shared that stemmed from having completely different music tastes and wanting to be closer when they first started living together.

The song Yuta’s listening to enters a dramatic crescendo, with mostly the piano accompanied by what sounded like cellos playing in the background. There’s no vocals, which is unusual for Yuta when nearly all the songs he listens to, and also adds onto the salon’s daily playlist, are rock songs and the occasional R&B track, where the vocals are the most prominent.

This tune is unfamiliar to Jaehyun, even as he focuses on it for a few seconds more.

“Wow,” Jaehyun says. “I didn’t know you started listening to movie scores,” he finishes, at the same time Yuta hastily goes, “It’s nothing.”

With a raised brow, Jaehyun lets Yuta tug the airpod back, watching curiously as the man slots the device back into his ear. “It’s just, you know. It’s a song that was recommended to me on Youtube. It sounds cool, so, yeah. I’m listening to it.” Yuta flounders, saying nothing more to add to his explanation, apart from giving a half-hearted shrug.

Both Jaehyun and Seulgi exchange looks.

“Okay?” Jaehyun laughs a little. “Anyway, it was nice of you to make me coffee again, thanks hyung.”

Yuta’s smile immediately turns blinding. “Did you like it? Was it okay today? I know you don’t drink it too sweet so I cut down on the sugar for you. I still don’t think you should have it too bitter. That’s just a bit too soul crushing for such a nice morning.”

Jaehyun likes his coffee black. In fact, he’s pretty sure he told Yuta this on the first day they met three years ago, when Yuta still spoke in broken Korean and Jaehyun was awkwardly shy around strangers. And yet, every time Yuta offers him homemade coffee, Jaehyun accepts it without hesitation, no matter how sweet or off balance the taste was.

Before Jaehyun can say anything, Seulgi sucks in a quick breath. “Wait, hold up. Yuta brewed your coffee today? That’s brave.”

“Wha—” Yuta whirls back to her, but the receptionist is already focused back on her computer screen.

“I don’t even let him touch my mug, let alone boil a whole pot,” continues Seulgi without a blink, “He’d probably accidentally poison me before I even took a sip.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to add some of the remaining bleach from the storeroom into your drink next time,” Yuta sniffs. “Plus, it's not like I’d touch that cheap-looking Batman mug of yours anyway. It looks outdated.”

The mug in question is a dark colour and has the Gotham city skyline all around its circumference in yellow; there’s also a dull looking oval shape right smack in the middle of the mug that Jaehyun guesses must have slowly worn off after extensive washing and use.

Seulgi snorts. “It’s actually a heat sensitive mug, genius. You add hot water to it and the Bat-Signal appears after a minute because of the temperature.”

She points at the oval shape and Jaehyun parts his mouth in realisation.

“What the — they still make those?” asks Yuta dubiously, bending to peer at the mug with a frown. “Well, my point still stands. Everyone knows that Iron Man is way better than someone who goes around in some random cape. Right, Jae?”

He turns expectantly to Jaehyun, eyes so bright and imploring, that it leaves Jaehyun no room to deny him. Yuta knows that Jaehyun’s favourite superhero is Batman and that the masked character would be ranked high on his personal superheroes list, just for the alluding coolness.

Jaehyun classes himself as a relatively chill person, which is probably one of the main reasons why he kinda likes Batman.

He’s a cool superhero who had a cape. 

The automatic response of disagreement is stuck in his throat though, only because he wants to play nice after Yuta's just gone through a breakup. He’d definitely feel guilty saying no to him, and although Yuta doesn’t care too much of it and is only really joking when it comes to choices like this, Jaehyun caves in resignation, after another long pause. “I mean… Iron Man has cool gadgets.”

Yuta’s staring at him in shock at his reluctant admission but as the seconds tick by, his face floods with unadulterated glee.

 _Victory_.

Jaehyun looks back at Seulgi, who only fixes him with a look that tells him she’s about to burst into laughter and he sighs inwardly.

“That means pretty much a yes,” Yuta flashes them an incredibly smug grin, before walking off in the direction of the backroom. “Anyway, it’s almost nine! I’m gonna go prep for real now.”

Upon his exit, Jaehyun groans. “I can’t believe I said that Iron Man is cooler than Batman. What the fuck.”

In a moment of weakness, he’s betrayed his childhood superhero for his best friend, just like that.

“Technically, you only said he had cooler gadgets,” Seulgi points out, still laughing. “The struggle on your face as you said it though - _that_ was priceless.”

“Whatever,” Jaehyun grumbles. “It’s only because I don’t wanna feel bad saying no to him when he’s still in post breakup phase.”

“Oh, but he seems different these days though," Seulgi points out. ”It’s a bit suspicious.”

Jaehyun scrunches up his nose in slight confusion. “Suspicious?”

Yuta is anything but suspicious. 

“Yeah. I meant that as he’s been… strangely fine for the last two breakups,” says Seulgi contemplative. “I expected a lot more grovelling about Mingyu since he barely said anything after Sooyoung, but so far there’s been nothing and it’s sort of scaring me.”

It’s been two weeks since Yuta broke up with his boyfriend, Mingyu. They met in the library (why Yuta was even at the library in the first place, Jaehyun didn’t know) and hit it off from there, but from what he’s seen, Mingyu seemed to be a rather friendly guy who worked at the nearby swimming pool.

Really tall and kinda model-like.

Mopey Yuta going through a breakup is a pain. It’s something that everyone working in the salon unanimously agrees on, after his last few girlfriends and boyfriends came and went.

The relationships have never been serious where Yuta would burst into tears in the middle of the day or lash out at someone if they don’t do a good job, but there was definitely a lot of extra complaining and whining about the smallest things. Like how the combs aren’t clear, or how messy the trolleys are. Jaehyun usually feeds him hot chocolate and tells him that he deserves better, to which Yuta usually accepts with a dramatic sigh.

Of course, the mandatory sulk about how bad of a partner his ex was comes and goes, slips into conversation for a couple of days before Yuta goes back to himself as though it never really happened in the first place.

But Yuta definitely hasn’t mentioned Mingyu much after their breakup.

In fact, Jaehyun had thought their relationship was going really well, until Yuta strolled into his room one evening, flopped down on his bed and nonchalantly went, “Mingyu and I are over.”

They had some leftover japchae from lunch and watched a rerun of Black Panther until Yuta fell asleep during the final Killmonger battle scene, snoring so quietly that Jaehyun had covered him with a blanket and then slept on the adjacent sofa himself.

Not a word or mention about the tall boy, nor did Yuta seem upset in any way.

“Maybe he’s just dealing with it better now,” Jaehyun finally says. “He’s not really someone to use words to express himself, so maybe this means something.”

“Hm.” Seulgi looks skeptical but she says nothing more to that, turning her attention back to the the files in front of her.

+++

The unmistakable prick of anxiousness resurfaces in Jaehyun again at their busiest hour.

It’s a huge event for the entertainment industry tonight, which automatically meant that everyone in the salon will be working extra hard today in order to deliver their best work. Not that they don’t already do for normal clients, but with celebrities, it’s a step up — with more styling, more technique and skill needed. Jaehyun’s nervous, even though he’s been through this several times already, knows how it works and what to do.

Yugyeom elbows him gently when he walks past with two bowls of mixed dye. “You look like you’re about to sit your hardest exam that you didn’t study for. Do you want to take a break?”

“Maybe in an hour,” Jaehyun nods in the direction of Jisoo and Chaeryeong, two actresses who currently had their hair bunched up in foil. He’d just spent a good chunk of time brushing dye on in layers and his hands were beginning to cramp. “I still need to finish them both with a wash since Jaemin’s busy with Minho and Yangyang had to dip out to meet his brother.”

“Okay, just make sure you’re ready before two. I heard the noona saying that they got a call a few days ago for a new guy to come in. Think he’s one of the members in NeoV, but I’m not sure.”

Jaehyun blinks, trying to recall the faces of the five-membered idol group. They were pretty big, from what he remembers, and only debuted three years ago, which has since garnered them through a pretty dedicated fanbase. “Wait, did I get assigned to him?”

“Yep. Yuta says this one’s on you since he said, and I quote, ‘ _Not another pretty boy for me to look at. Jaehyun can take him_ ’”.

 _Of course,_ Jaehyun thinks with a sigh. 

Empathy is by no means the biggest hair salon around, but Jaehyun knows that their handful of celebrity cliente will be in and out today, ranging from the likes of Lee Taemin to Im Nayeon from the looks of the printed appointment sheet he had glimpsed at earlier when he arrived into work. It’s not unusual to see celebrities roaming around - just like every other paying customer, they come in, get their hair done and then leave until their next scheduled appointment.

Sometimes new clients come in just once, probably to test the waters with how the stylists are here and however they are treated will decide for them if they’re about to be a regular.

Jaehyun knows Kim Doyoung.

He’s not too active on social media, but he knows enough from his job and their clientele that Doyoung isn’t just some hotshot idol who’d fade into obscurity. He’s part of NeoV, which is impressive on its own, and he’s also incredibly talented in both hosting and acting. He seemed sweet on camera, with a little bit of a hidden bite.

It’ll be interesting, once Jaehyun starts working with him, to see what kind of person he really is. 

+++

In the evening, everyone gathers around the TV in Kun’s living room with takeout.

They’re still in their work clothes, having come straight from the salon apart from Kun and Chenle, who had gotten off work earlier to sort dinner out for everyone.

It’s tradition for them to congregate at someone’s place after a day of styling their celebrity customers and watching the main show together. Kun’s hosting this time, with his place being one of the biggest amongst them and with a great view of the city.

Jaehyun takes a sip of his champagne, curling up on the sofa next to Ten comfortably as the first presenter finally wraps up the opening speech.

The awards look grander this year, with what seems to be light shows and plush looking seating that likely costs more than Jaehyun’s annual salary. They already missed most of the red carpet earlier, having worked on some last minute touch-ups instead, but it still did seem extra lavish anyhow through social media and the new reports that Jaehyun, Seulgi and Yugyeom had pored over together during the 30 minute car ride to Kun’s.

“It must be so expensive to fund this kind of thing,” Jaemin remarks, sprawled out on the floor next to Chenle. He’s wiping his greasy fingers on a paper towel, crumpling it on his own empty pizza box that has only crumbs and a stray rocket leaf left. “All this money spent just for five hours in one night, every time there’s an awards thing.”

“Nominees get so much in that goody bag of theirs too. I heard that it’s mostly expensive facial treatments and Lele said that there’s also prepaid trip packages in there. Pretty sure it’s round trips to Europe and the Maldives or something.” says Yangyang, stretching his body over the bean bag like a lean cat by Jaemin’s side. His newly dyed hair somehow looks bluer under the TV lights.

Jaehyun would kill for a prepaid trip like that.

He’s sure that everyone else in the room would too, more or less. None of them are what you would call overworked, because their jobs aren’t terrible and they actually take pride in having downtime — Sunyoung had made it a rule that no overworking was allowed.

But a holiday out of Seoul would be nice. Somewhere where there’s no clumps of hair at their feet and no chemical smells sticking to their clothes. Somewhere further away, like San Francisco, would be incredible.

“Okay, but how the hell are they even getting the money to fund that though? And where can we get that funding for us? For a trip?” Jaehyun watches Jaemin turn to Sunyoung, a pout forming on his lips and imploring eyes growing brighter.

Sunyoung hides her smile behind her flute of champagne. “Nope. Not a chance. We’re doing well, but it’ll take some time for that to happen.”

“Noona, can’t we just go somewhere nice like the sea or something? I wanna get out of the city.”

Both him and Yangyang are now looking at the latter’s phone screen, scrolling through no doubt an article written about the glorified goodie bags.

“It’s taxpayers,” is what Yuta says, unceremoniously stuffing another slice of pepperoni pizza into his mouth. Tomato sauce gets on his cheek and collects on the corners of his mouth and Jaehyun grimaces. “The goodie bags, I mean. They take our money, but then we earn it back until the next expensive event they pull. It’s a life cycle, Jaemin. We’ll probably get that holiday, but not quite yet. You’ll learn soon enough, grasshopper.”

Jaemin pauses to look up from Yangyang’s phone. “Did you just call me a grasshopper?”

“Would you rather be called -”

“Nope!”

Kun sighs as moves off the sofa in search of more napkins when Yuta lunges for Jaemin, accidentally knocking over their drink. Even when Kun wasn't hosting tonight, he would still be the first one to retrieve the cleaning supplies. He doesn’t even blink, just lets out a disapproving sound and gets on with it. It’s like Kun’s seen everyone grow up from being a newborn to a functional child, knows exactly what to expect, what to do and how to do it.

Except, everyone is meant to be a working adult and yet somehow, it’s all ridiculously chaotic.

“God, you’re so messy,” Jooyoung complains, shuddering when Yuta shoots a wink in her direction. “And yet I thought you were going to be the coolest coworker I had when we first met. That right now belongs entirely to Jaehyun and Seulgi. And Sunyoung doesn’t count because she’s always been number one.”

Yuta’s jaw drops and somehow, the tomato sauce makes him look even more like a sitcom character. “What? That’s just not fair – you and Sunyoung noona have been dating for years. That means she’s automatically in first place and please, I’m so much cooler than Jae and Seulgi noona!”

“I’m Jooyoung noona’s favourite now?” Jaehyun feels his ears warm from the champagne, but the grin stretching on his face feels unstoppable. “Noona, I knew I’ve always been the coolest in your eyes.”

The bickering between Jooyoung and Yuta begins again, which only makes Jaehyun laugh before he pulls himself back into the conversation with Ten.

“You’re saying it as though we’re purely a celebrity salon, but we’re not,” Ten is saying, peeking over the rim of his glasses. He’s changed back into sweats, probably a pair that he leaves at Kun’s since he’s always staying over at his place anyway. “We aren’t snobby like Blossom Talk is with being celebrity exclusive.”

Minho sighs loudly. “The thing is, we _could_ be celebrity exclusive. Half of our clientele are celebrities but Sunyoung doesn’t want us to be, so it isn't. Which is good, because we cater to all, but oh, what I’d do to wipe that stupid smirk off Kibum’s face whenever he starts bragging.”

“He’s your best friend, hyung, so obviously he’s going to rub it in your face,” Yugyeom laughs.

Minho only snorts, “He’s an ass, that’s what he is.”

It’s always surreal to see a celebrity be filmed either in the crowd or onstage accepting an award with hair done by an Empathy stylist.

Even if it’s to complement their outfits and face, it’s the hair that carries the look.

When the camera pans to Kang Younghyun, everyone wows at the screen. The newly dyed platinum blonde locks look good on him, artfully messy yet sleek at the same time and Jaehyun swells with pride at his work. Someone points out the small silver hoop earrings Younghyun has on that nicely accentuates his look, and then there’s the sounds of Sunyoung taking photos on her phone, snapping quickly before the shot

“Isn’t that my hair colour? So I was just your guinea pig then,” says Yuta in feigned hurt. “You couldn’t have waited when I wasn’t upset over Mingyu?”

It might have fooled Jaehyun into feeling bad. After all, he _did_ take the opportunity for a dye practice on his somewhat vulnerable friend who _was_ going through a breakup. But this is Yuta, who’s pouting like he’s waiting for an _actual_ apology and Jaehyun remembers how much of a sham his ‘vulnerable’ breakup was.

“I’ve just been practicing like how noona showed me, so it’s not like you’re the actual first person I’ve done it on.”

“And you’ve done a nice job!” Jooyoung calls from the sofa. Jaehyun raises his champagne flute in her direction, beaming. Yuta scoffs.

“Okay, but did you guys not see Yesung this morning?” Ten gasps almost outrageously. The red wine in his glass looks dangerously close to spilling over the rim. Jaehyun exchanges glances with Kun across the room — the other man is already sitting up in alert, carefully watching Ten in case of a potential spill. “I gave him a bit of a trim and a bit of the wet look so that it’s fresher on the red carpet.”

“It does look really stylish,” Sunyoung nods her approval and Ten beams like he’s just won a lottery.

Kun ends up pulling the glass free from Ten’s grasp, just as the man begins scrolling through his camera roll on his phone. When he finds a decent photo of the singer, he proudly faces his screen to everyone lounging on the floor, eyes alight. “Look! I did this just now, and I can already bet he’s going to win Best Ballad of the Year –– with my cut.”

Laughter and teasing follows suit. Jaehyun tunes out after that, content to watch the room and have filtered conversations pass over his ears.

It’s the beauty of these evenings, when they all come together to celebrate their hard work by watching the stars shine in them. Although it’s clear some of his colleagues would rather be seen naked in Seoul’s largest e-mart store than admit to it, the Empathy staff members are basically family. They’re professional and serious when they’re actually working, but half of the time they’d be messing around with the hairdryers and spray bottles like a rowdy playground.

The show progresses over the evening.

There’s cheering and shouting in the room whenever someone they know appears on screen, sometimes for a brief moment. Other times when they’re giving their acceptance speech, a shiny trophy in their grasp, the room turns chaotic.

Pizza crumbs fly everywhere at one point, Yangyang kicking at Seulgi’s box in excitement when his favourite singer, Bo-Ah, takes the stage with a rendition of Shin Seung-Hoon’s _I Believe_. Minho pops open a third bottle of champagne. Ten and Kun disappear at one point when Ten gets a phone call, likely Ten’s family congratulating them on a job well done on the styled looks tonight.

And then, it’s the Best Actor category.

The montage of different cut scenes from the nominees play on screen, some in heartbreaking scenes with spilled tears and red eyes and others in less volatile scenes, instead, a clear intent shining in their eyes.

Doyoung is part of the latter. It’s a scene from his film _Playground_ , where he played the role of a man who was terminally ill, bedridden with revenge being the only driving force in his miserable life. He acted incredibly well for someone who’d only just started delving into the acting realm – Ten had given him a four out of five stars when they saw it in the cinema, something almost unheard of with his usual two, at most two point five star rating on newbie actors.

“It’s the way he delivered the lines,” Ten explained then, his mouth half stuffed with cheap popcorn when they left the theatre. “The plot wouldn’t be realistic without someone who says it like he means it. Kim Doyoung meant it, like, he was the guy himself.”

It seems like Ten was right, for Jaehyun watches as the cameras flash to Doyoung sitting in the audience, looking ready for the runway in his clean sleek Valentino suit and with the hair that Jaehyun styled only a few hours ago, looking stunned at the roaring applause.

Even as he went up onstage to collect his trophy, he looked utterly picturesque under the glow of lights that never dim.

“I would really like to thank a lot of people for this award,” Doyoung begins, voice strong and clear. The camera catches the slight gleam in his eyes and already, Jaehyun can tell he’s feeling overcome with emotion. “The cast of _Playground,_ Lee Bong Jun director-nim and Lee Tae Eun, thank you for everything. It’s been an incredible pleasure working with you all and really, you’ve all been like a family to me. I would also like to extend my thanks....”

His skin looks poreless, angular eyes prominent under the stark lighting and lined artfully with eyeliner in a way that only makes his lash line look naturally longer. His lips are tinted a peachy red tonight, like he had some cherry ade that left a pretty stain just before going on stage and Jaehyun struggles to grasp onto a full, actual feeling seeing it.

He looks absolutely divine.

As the audience both onscreen and off applauds, Jaehyun finally rests his head on the back pillows of the couch, zoning out a little now.

The champagne flute in his hand feels a little heavier, the remnants of the clear liquid still gliding smoothly as he swirls it absentmindedly. It’s nice hum in his head, making the voices around him tune out to accommodate the pleasant buzz.

When Jaehyun thinks of Kim Doyoung, it feels just like this.

+++

**UNKNOWN**

**[8:47PM]**

Hello is this Jaehyun?

**ME**

**[8:49PM** ]

yes it is

sorry, but who is this?

**UNKNOWN**

**[8:50PM]**

Oh hahah it’s Doyoung!

Kim Doyoung.

Should have said at the start. Sorry @_@

**ME**

**[8:55PM]**

OH

Hey Doyoung! Nice to hear from you hahah

How did you get my number? :o

**UNKNOWN**

**[8:55PM]**

From reception. The receptionist said it’s fine to take the business cards so I took one just in case

  
..Is that okay?

**ME**

**[8:57PM]**

Oh it’s fine!!

I was just kinda surprised ahah customers don’t really message me personally unless they’re regulars or friends of mine

I actually kinda forgot we gave out business cards

  
**KIM DOYOUNG**

**[8:57PM]**

oh my god

I’m so sorry, I don’t mean to come off as creepy! I just thought I could ask you about further appointments

**ME**

**[8:58PM]**

No honestly it’s fine :)

What’s up?

**KIM DOYOUNG**

**[8:59PM]**

Is it okay if I book a colour with you for Thursday? If you guys are full then it’s alright!

There’s just an upcoming photoshoot and management has asked that I change my hair again ㅠㅠ

**ME**

**[9:00PM** **]**

Sure! What time works best for you?

I think I have a free slot at 10:30am and then one at 3:30pm

**KIM DOYOUNG**

**[9:03PM]**

I’ll take the morning slot if you don’t mind?

**ME**

**[9:04PM]**

Yep that’s fine, I’ll let seulgi know so she can pencil it in for you :)

**KIM DOYOUNG**

**[9:04PM]**

You’re a lifesaver, Jeong Jaehyun

+++

There’s one regular who Jaehyun meets more often than others.

Not necessarily because he’s a busy person, and who needed salon bookings more times in a month than you can count on two hands like some, but because he’s someone who Jaehyun has a slight soft spot for.

He comes in on Saturday quietly and Jaehyun recognises him instantly, his lips curving into a smile on its own. “Good morning, Sicheng.”

The other man has his black mask on, and the beanie he’s wearing flattens his dark hair down messily, like he’s only just rolled out of bed and gotten dressed in under a minute. He probably did, judging by the smallest grunt and nod at Jaehyun in response and the slumped shoulders. “Morning.”

“You’re early. Did you eat yet?” Jaehyun fusses, like a mother bird over her baby and Sicheng shakes his head. Ah, he guessed as much.

He lets Sicheng take his time ordering a takeaway up to the salon. His coach isn’t here today with him, which means as long as he isn’t ordering anything too unhealthy, Jaehyun can turn a blind eye to anything. But then again, Sicheng’s manager has only ever come to the salon twice in the past – once at his first appointment and once when Sicheng was about to dye his hair a flaming red for a competition without prior warning – which means it’s fair chances that Jaehyun would allow Sicheng to scoff down an extra ice cream, if he wished.

Sicheng orders a rice congee and some oolong tea, and by the time he finally gets to eat, Jaehyun’s already washed his hair and started trimming.

“I heard from Chenle that there’s bad blood between Paradise7 and Blossom Talk,” Sicheng says curiously and moves pliantly when Jaehyun readjusts his head position. “You guys aren’t involved, are you?”

“Oh, no we aren’t. It’s the same old issue between Kibum-ssi and BM. They think they’re better than the other and use the salons as their bargaining chip, but it’s been bad recently since their customers have had to pick sides and stick to one salon exclusively.”

Salon politics is a thing. Jaehyun knows that it’s stupid and that Sunyoung would never be one to put Empathy in the spotlight like that, but word still gets around and he can’t help but be intrigued by it. It’s interesting to watch. 

They don’t take sides, and they stayed out of it completely but as an observer, it was different.

“You must be getting lots of new customers who don’t want to be a part of it then,” Sicheng muses through a spoonful of congee and Jaehyun laughs.

“Yeah. Kim Doyoung is one of them and I think he’s going to be sticking around. I’ve met him a couple of times already.” Jaehyun bends, carefully trimming away the back of Sicheng’s hair. “He kinda reminds me of a bunny.”

“Oh? He’s from NeoV, right? I’ve seen some of their stuff, only because Ryujin keeps talking about them. But I think I like his voice the best.”

Jaehyun can’t lie when he says that he’s listened to several of their songs before the first appointment. He’s also already added some onto his daily playlist. Doyoung’s fellow member, Taeil, shared a lot of lines with him and they both had incredibly strong voices that complemented each other well. 

But somehow, it’s still Doyoung’s voice that has already grown on him much more than Jaehyun would like to admit.

“I like his voice the best too.”

+++

Over the course of the next month, Doyoung drops by the salon so often that Jaehyun stops counting the appointments. Not that he’s really keeping track, but it’s hard not to notice when each time Doyoung comes in, it’s usually a new hair colour change for work and somehow, Jaehyun is always assigned as his colour technician.

Not Jooyoung or Yuta, even though both of them were senior stylists – but Jaehyun.

He shouldn’t question it much. Technically, Jaehyun’s a senior stylist too, but he just hasn’t been in the field as long as the others and still has a way to go in honing his skills. Most customers come in looking for a simple shade of brown, black or sometimes a balayage, but he doesn’t get to work too often with those who wanted a more outrageous colour like a flaming red or even multicoloured, like Yuta was once tasked to do on a woman who was a bass player for a rock band.

He doesn’t style that many idols either.

Song Yuqi is probably the only one who Jaehyun has done four to five shades for, but even then, her company cycles her through a similar pastel palette of oranges, light pinks and mocha brown. It’s boring, but only because Jaehyun’s already dyed the same few colour combinations several times, mixed in different concentrations of pigment so that Yuqi’s hair is still somehow different each time. 

But now, he’s got Doyoung.

Even though Jaehyun’s getting even more experience through the haphazard hair colour choices that Doyoung experiments with frequently now, he feels the prickling worry about the quality and treatment of the man’s scalp with every dye job.

“Did you use the mask I told you to use last night?” Jaehyun examines Doyoung’s hair the moment the other sits down, brows knotting when he notices Doyoung flush in embarrassment through the mirror. “You didn’t use it.”

“I was rewatching Search:WWW yesterday after practice but I fell asleep in the middle of it,” Doyoung admits with the smallest pout. “I used some dry shampoo on it this morning and it seems to work alright.”

Jaehyun runs a light hand through the top strands of Doyoung’s hair, registering the greasiness that persists past the quick hairspray attempt. “You didn’t even take a shower? That’s not good, Doyoung.”

Another thing is the dyed hair.

It _must_ burn with the number of times he’s helped bleach and darken it for Doyoung. There’s no way a human being could be subject to this many hair changes in such a short span of time. Any more, and Jaehyun might get sued for inflicting personal injury on Doyoung’s scalp.

“No more slacking off on showers,“ Jaehyun nags. “If you don’t want to be bald by the end of this month, you need to use the conditioner daily, and then mask once every other day.”

Doyoung rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile on the corner of his lips despite the sullen tone he takes on. “Yes omma, I promise.”

Conversation flows easily between them as Jaehyun works on a hair mask for Doyoung, followed by a quick trim and style. Doyoung tells him about his schedule, about how he’s currently filming a web drama playing the male lead who falls in love with a girl from another neighbourhood, and how he’s also preparing for a comeback album alongside it. He talks of his members too; he speaks of Taeyong the most, at times opening up to the hardships that both of them had gone through together whilst they were trainees and Jaehyun is content to let him talk as he snipped off strands of his hair.

When he’s finished at last, and Doyoung’s at the counter getting ready to leave for work, he smiles at Jaehyun, holding up his phone.

“Text me,” he says, and then he’s gone.

+++

  
**< EMPATHY SLAVES >**

**TEN**

**[2:35PM]**

Doyoung must really hate the drama going down to keep coming back to us hmmm 

**JAEMIN**

**[2:35PM]**

Huh? o.o

what drama are you talking about?????

**CHENLE**

**[2:35PM]**

Someone fill me in too plsss 

is this about whatever minho hyung was talking to kibum-ssi about? 👀

**MINHO**

**[2:36PM]**

I WASN’T TALKING TO HIM 

**TEN**

**[2:36PM]**

the one going down between paradise7 and blossom talk lol

yeah cuz you were yelling not talking 🗿

so loud i’m p sure the whole of gangnam could hear you~

**MINHO**

**[2:37PM]**

shut up same thing 

he was being pissy about the whole situation 😞

and since i’m not directly involved he came to me

**ME**

**[2:38PM]**

aren’t you and kibum best friends though hyung lol 

I didn’t know doyoung was w either of them 

**YUTA**

**[2:38PM]**

hello losers 🤡

jae i lit erally told you this like two weeks ago ???

he used to go to kibum’s salon

were you not listening to me 

**TEN**

**[2:39PM]**

nah 

he was too busy being friendly with sicheng to care 😂😂😂👀👀👀

**YUTA**

**[2:39PM]**

oh

**ME**

**[2:39PM]**

Dude come on

for the last time, we’re just friends!

**CHENLE**

**[2:40PM]**

Sicheng hyung is so nice hahah

He was telling me about his training stuff the other day and the first time he did an axel jump :))

**MINHO**

**[2:40PM]**

ok back to my main point!

they've taken the whole rivalry thing up a notch and apparently they’re starting to lose customers 

it’s a ‘choose a side or get out’ mentality and kibum isn’t very happy about it 

but like when is he ever when BM is involved 🙄

**JAEMIN**

**[2:43PM]**

😯😯😯😯

Wowow I’m glad we keep out of whatever you call that 

**YUTA**

**[2:43PM]**

A hot mess?? Yeah lol

**ME**

**[2:44PM]**

We can beat their asses anyway

in a dignified way

: )

**TEN**

**[2:44PM]**

looool kinda glad jae and minho are in empathy 

both of y’all r competitive af but in a good way 

and it also carries the team forwards ^^ 

**ME**

**[2:44PM]**

... i’m not that competitive 

**CHENLE**

**[2:45PM]**

yugyeom hyung just said you started playing animal crossing with him but quit because you can’t win the game 🤔

**TEN**

**[2:45PM]**

I—

**JAEMIN**

**[2:45PM]**

LMAOO

**ME**

**[2:46PM]**

GO BACK TO WORK LELE 

and tell yugyeom that lying is bad for his health ffs

**MINHO**

**[2:46PM]**

and on that note

i’m gonna nap i’m tired 

no one say another word 

or i’ll block you .

**TEN**

**[2:46PM]**

wait 🥺

**MINHO**

**[2:46PM]**

blocked ❌

+++

Something that Jaehyun notices is that Doyoung always orders the same green tea every time he visits.

He drinks at least two, sometimes three cups, during his longer appointments but then sticks to water when he’s only booked in for a thirty minute slot. It’s not difficult to remember, so Jaehyun constantly makes sure to get Chenle to brew a fresh pot so that there’s always enough to top Doyoung’s cup up.

He doesn’t understand why Chenle gives him this look today, when he’s instructed to start brewing a pot before Doyoung is due to arrive. “What?”

Chenle just grins, far too much to be labelled as innocent. “Nothing. It’s just funny to watch, hyung.”

“Watch what?”

Jaehyun can’t think of anything he’s just done that warrants humour. Chenle ignores him momentarily, careful with the kettle – Jooyoung constantly warns them about how expensive the brand was – and plops it onto the base with a flick before glancing back at Jaehyun again.

“What you’re like with Doyoung hyung’s tea,” Chenle says at last. “And how it’s always to be brewed before he’s even here.”

“I just want to be prepared when he comes in,” Jaehyun laughs, although he feels somewhat exposed by the sudden statement.

Giving the best treatment is always at the forefront of his mind as a diligent employee, and it’s nice to see that pay off when customers compliment his work ethic and his sweet disposition to Seulgi as she handles their bills, or occasionally even Sunyoung herself if she’s by the front desk. He smiles at all the customers, makes sure that they’re enjoying themselves with a glass of beverage and some magazines when they enter. He’s able to hold a conversation well without it running too awkward and overall, his standard work is generally flawless.

He always remembers the drink orders for most of his regulars, something that he prides himself over, and Doyoung is no exception to this service.

So Jaehyun pushes himself from the counter and corners Chenle away from the heated kettle – again, lest they suffer the wrath of Jooyoung – and then puts him straight into a safe headlock in an attempt to stop the other’s laughter.

“Lele, are you jealous that I don’t give you the same treatment?” Jaehyun teases as he pokes the younger. “What’s so funny about me wanting to do a spectacular job in front of our customers, hm?”

Chenle just wheezes, cheeks red from laughing too hard and then the begging only begins when Jaehyun directs his pokes straight into his sides, the most lethal area to be tickled.

“I’m just telling the truth, hyung! You always look at him all soft too.”

Jaehyun does let him go eventually, both huffing and out of breath. “No, I don’t. l I just feel bad for him. He always comes in from work and it just looks like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his back. Preparing his tea is the least we could do for him.”

It’s a given, right? Jaehyun would do the same for Sicheng, for Yuqi, or for anyone who falls under his care walking in through those doors. There’s no favouritism, of course, because this is just a part of his job – if his customers are happy, then so is he.

“I mean, most of your customers look that way, especially if they’re famous,” Chenle says pointedly. “But it’s just... different when it’s Doyoung hyung. I don’t know how to explain it, but I guess it’s kinda like how Jeno and Jaemin hyung look at each other. You don’t really have to try or be something around him, because it’s just _you_.”

Jaehyun’s mind comes up, again, with all the explanations and rejections he can think of, something to refute this idea completely. But when Chenle, out of all people, is looking at him unblinkingly and with absolute sincerity in his expression, he feels a little off balance. He doesn’t look at Doyoung differently — he can’t be.

The kettle stops boiling and Chenle begins to prep the tea.

“I know I’m only here part-time, but even I see it, hyung,” Chenle says without looking at him. “He’s special to you, and maybe you just need to accept it.”

+

Yugyeom shows Jaehyun a photo during their break. “I can’t believe Ten hyung bought another outfit for Louis. It makes him look like a potato.” 

Ten squints at them as he passes by holding a clipboard and a handheld mirror. “Kim Yugyeom, you take your words back or I’m not treating you at the next hotpot dinner.”

Immediately, Yugyeom looks up and hits back with a, “But you love me too much to starve me.”

Ten only lets out a soft hiss when Yugyeom trails after him like a puppy, arms outstretched and lips set in a pout. “Plus you’re richer and older than me.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m automatically your sugar daddy, you _gremlin_.”

“But Kun hyung’s yours.” Yugyeom only dodges the swift kick aimed at him by a second, before making his escape and taking shelter behind Jaehyun, sticking his tongue out in retaliation at Ten. “Jae, don’t let him get me!”

Jaehyun laughs, but then the front door jangles. 

“Hey Jaehyunnie,” Doyoung greets, smiling as he enters the salon. He's wearing make up today, likely coming from a schedule. Immediately, Jaehyun untangles himself from Yugyeom’s hold in order to lead Doyoung to an empty chair for his appointment. 

Later, Yugyeom pulls Jaehyun aside again. “Do you think he’s going through a breakup or something? Kinda like what Yuta hyung does with his wack routines?” Yugyeom whispers.

Jaehyun casts a gaze at the man making himself comfortable in his chair. Doyoung’s dressed in a black sweater and some jeans today, which will definitely be a contrast to his newly requested light auburn hair once Jaehyun is done working on it, which would likely take at least a few hours seeing as he’s only gone back to black last week. “Uh, I don’t think so? He’s just going through his schedules and they need him in different hair colours. In case you forgot, he’s an idol, Gyeom-ah.”

“I _know_ he is!” Yugyeom flicks him on the shoulder hard. “I just think he’s coming in almost too much, you know? He’s here literally everyday, and I swear half of his appointments are either for a colour or he just asks for the blowdry service.”

Untrue. Doyoung’s last appointment was three days ago, when he had to come in for a quick styling before a schedule with his members and it’d only taken Jaehyun about thirty minutes to sort his hair out, before Doyoung was off on his way with a gummy smile.

When the client is part of an idol group, appointments are naturally more frequent than what is considered normal for a new celebrity client, due to the special requisites and demands of their jobs. They dip in and out of salons often, just to get themselves looking essentially ready for the runway at all times.

So really, even if Yugyeom was right in that Doyoung does come in often and just for a quick blow dry, it’s not that unusual.

When Jaehyun voices this to Yugyeom, the other scoffs. “Jae, like you said, he’s an idol. They probably have stylist noonas on set with them who accompany them wherever they go. There’s no reason why he should drag himself out to Myeong-dong all the time when he can just do it on set. That’s just time, energy and money wasted.”

That’s… Jaehyun’s never thought of it like that before. The logical side of his brain scrambles to connect the dots and somehow manages to come up with an explanation just as plausible. That Doyoung drops by so often because he lives nearby and it’s on his way to work, so he might as well.

It’s economically beneficial for him, seeing as it saves him time and travel.

But the only flaw in this is just as Yugyeom had said. Empathy is on the outskirts of Myeong-dong, which is the main district of Seoul’s tourism and shopping.

It’s a death trap to people like Doyoung, who tend to live away from crowds and opt for quieter locations to reside in, for obvious reasons. There’s no reason why he would make a trip down to see them unless it’s for something more than a simple blow dry. And Doyoung’s already mentioned to Jaehyun that he’s on a quick break these days, his schedule less jam-packed than usual.

The only thing he had going on were recording sessions for their next album. Surely that shouldn’t warrant Doyoung’s daily visits to the salon, seeing as the sessions don’t get filmed _that_ often.

“Maybe he has his reasons,” Jaehyun says, looking back at Doyoung still waiting calmly in his seat, scrolling on his phone. “We shouldn’t question it too much – remember we’re only here to do our job.”

He feels like he’s been repeating himself more these days. 

“You’re right, we shouldn’t,” Yugyeom acquiesces, sighing as he searches through his apron for the right comb Jaehyun’s looking for. “He’s paying for it anyway, so I guess that’s okay.”

When he looks up, he sees Jaehyun catch Doyoung’s gaze and then watches as they exchange smiles, noting the way Jaehyun’s ears go red.

“He has a very specific reason in mind, I’m sure.”

+++

Doyoung’s rushing.

Jaehyun doesn’t often end a customer’s appointment by finishing it up early, but he’s calm when he manages to wash out Doyoung’s newly dyed lilac hair and do a blow dry in under ten minutes. He feels the frustration coming off the idol in waves, as he anxiously sent a couple of text messages to his manager before dropping back into the chair, a hand to his forehead.

“This is such bad timing,” Doyoung mumbles, so low that Jaehyun might not have heard him if it wasn’t for Minho switching off his own blow dryer on the other side of the room as he said it. “The set is almost an hour away. I don’t know how I’m going to make it there in time.”

His manager had called only fifteen minutes earlier to inform Doyoung that the car had stopped in the middle of the road whilst he was on the way to pick him up, as it had run out of petrol. He had forgotten to refill it, amidst all of the schedules NeoV were going through at the moment and it just had to happen when Doyoung was prepping for a photoshoot out in some field by the sea, a bit out of central Seoul.

“I can give you a ride if you’d like?” Jaehyun finds himself offering, before he even realises it himself.

Only when Doyoung pauses in his fretting to look at him, eyes wide like Jaehyun’s just announced he’s a single father of two, does it register in his head.

Surely this is the stupidest thing he’s ever said.

Jaehyun sees the amused look Sicheng is sending him from the seat over from Doyoung, but what’s been said is done. It’s between him and God now.

Doyoung is quick to fumble out a reply. “No, that’s okay! You don’t need to, I can’t ask you to drive me when you’re on shift. It’s fine, I’ll take a bus or the metro––”

“Hyung, it’s nearly rush hour,” Jaehyun points out. “It’s faster if I drive you, even in this traffic. And my shift’s nearly done anyway. Yuta can cover for me, it’s no big deal.”

Nice timing. Yuta’s strolling back in their direction, holding a pair of scissors and a comb and quickly, Jaehyun tells him of the situation. Yuta nods along, shooting Doyoung a sympathetic glance over but at the end of it, tells Jaehyun to go.

“I’ve got Sicheng today anyway,” Yuta says with cheer, to which Sicheng lets out a miniscule scoff in his seat. “Don’t worry, I got you. But bring home some food please. I don’t really wanna cook dinner today.”

*

On the road, Jaehyun quickly realises that something isn’t right when Doyoung leans himself on the side of the car door, gripping onto his papers hard.

“Hyung, are you okay? We’ll get there, don’t worry. The jam isn’t that bad today.”

Doyoung looks pale, eyebrows knitted together in concentration as he looked at his notes, although he looks up in surprise at Jaehyun as he spoke.

“No, no, it’s not that. I… get headaches in the car if I read,” Doyoung sheepishly admits. He folds back back his script book so that it falls flat in his lap, before finally resting against the headrest. “It worsened a little when I started going through drama scripts a year ago in the car. I focus on the words too much, so that’s probably why.”

Jaehyun gets it.

Carsickness is a horrible feeling, especially the queasiness that comes with too much jerkiness. He lessens the force on the gas and with a hand on the wheel, checks the rearview mirror once before dropping down the passenger window.

Doyoung’s inquisitive eyes are on him. “Wha—“

“Fresh air helps with the queasiness. I used to have that alot when I read in the car as a kid.”

Doyoung’s quiet for a moment and Jaehyun thinks maybe he should have just kept quiet, but then he lets out a small laugh of disbelief. “You must have been an intelligent student then. I used to just bicker with my brother in the backseat when our parents dropped us off at school, until they got fed up and made us take the school bus as punishment.”

A young Doyoung getting haughty in the car is an image Jaehyun can picture, but it’s even funnier when he thinks of Gong Myung getting into trouble over a squabble. The older actor is a figure of grace in the eye of the public, and it was hard to picture him any less than that off camera.

Jaehyun chuckles. “Not really, they were more of comics. And then, I moved onto reading shop signs and street names when I got older and was bored during car rides, but then I’d feel sick doing it so I stopped.”

“Street names, huh?” Doyoung seems amused, yet somewhere far away when he turns away to rest his head on the window. “That’s funny. I don’t think I know someone who does that.”

“Is it that weird?” Jaehyun laughs, and Doyoung shakes his head.

”No, of course not! It’s just interesting that you would. Most kids, including myself, would just look at the cars and the sky since there’s more to look at visually. But there’s nothing wrong with looking at words instead.”

Doyoung sticks his head out of the window more now, as if beginning to take notice of signs they passed more closely. Jaehyun feels the panic rise in him, already thinking that he might get yelled at for letting the idol mess his hair up after only just being at the salon, and looks over for a second.

The wind is kind today, that much is clear, when it only ruffles Doyoung’s hair slightly and loosens it. The setting sun serves to illuminate his face and it’s like he’s glowing, his skin the colour of honey and almost translucent in the light. 

For a moment, Jaehyun thinks this might be the one time he wishes he had a camera so that he could preserve this image of Doyoung for himself. Perhaps it’s selfish of him, but it’s hard to resist the temptation when Doyoung is just right there, so unsuspecting of his own beauty. 

Jaehyun must be out of his mind.

+++

“So. You and Kim Doyoung,” Yuta begins, mixing the dye in the bowl tactically. It’s finally beginning to look like a bright pink, even though it’s really going to turn out a maroon colour once it’s been applied onto hair. “Have you guys gone out on a date yet?”

It’s too early for this. Jaehyun reels back in surprise, nearly dropping his pintail brush. “What? We aren’t dating.”

“I asked if you guys have yet or not, not whether you were,” Yuta scoffs, now folding the mixture in like he would if he were baking a cake. It’s fast and skilful that If Yuta didn’t work at a hair salon, his technique would definitely come in handy as a baker. “You can’t stand there and tell me that neither of you have made a move yet. It’s not realistic.”

Jaehyun scrunches his eyebrows together. “What makes you think we have? We’re just — we’re friends, I guess. He’s become a regular now.” He pauses on the word ‘friends’, unsure of the label.

Sure, the encounters with Doyoung occurred more frequently than Jaehyun had originally anticipated when he first walked through the doors three months ago. They texted often too, sometimes even for hours. Jaehyun had the thought that the idol would go back to Blossom Talk after the drama died down, so he certainly wasn’t expecting to see him often, much less speak to him all the time.

And yet, Kim Doyoung is still coming back into the salon every other week, the same rosy cheeks and gummy smile adorning his face whenever he walks through the door. 

An idol singer, who has the voice that can grace an entire country and charm even the noisiest baby into silence.

He’s become a friend of Jaehyun’s.

“Friends?” Yuta repeats, eyebrow cocking in surprise. “He seems interested in you, and you in him ever since he started coming here, and you’re telling me you’re just friends. Like platonic friends, no feelings, nothing.”

He pauses for a moment and then licks his lips. “On second thought, Jeno and Jaemin still hold the crown for slowburn, but that’s not the point here. Why haven’t you tried asking him out yet? He’s not actually secretly dating some other idol right?”

Jaehyun feels himself going pink. “Doyoung doesn’t see me like that... And plus, he’s too busy to date. It might be burdensome for him to have a relationship right now, seeing as he’s an idol and is trying to focus on his career.”

Yuta fixes him with a stare, already slowing down on the stirring. “How do you know that?”

“What do you mean?”

“That he’s not open to dating and being in a relationship,” Yuta says as if it’s obvious. “Like, I guess it makes sense why you’d think he’s not, but to me it still sounds like a bunch of excuses when anyone can see the way he looks at you.”

Jaehyun’s ears burn, most likely red now, but he ignores it mainly because Yuta is exaggerating.“Well, maybe it’s because he isn’t.”

And he knows this because Doyoung has told him, or at least, Jaehyun himself has already witnessed some things on his own. Doyoung’s regularly updated social media, NeoV’s youtube channel and the constant articles of Doyoung attending music show events, performing, his script read throughs are one thing. Him coming to the salon so often for a change of hair colour that his hair is essentially on the brink of breaking apart is another indicator that he’s busy, seemingly too busy to be able to commit to a relationship.

Even if he were dating behind the scenes, then surely… surely he would have heard about it by now, right?

News travels fast in the entertainment grapevine, especially within the inner ranks where not even the media and the public would hear of. The salon is what you would label as being part of the insider’s circle, seeing that Sunyoung herself is a celebrity, and a highly respected one at that, so naturally, they would usually hear about anything new whenever it happens.

If Yuta is so insistent that something was going on between them, then two can play at this game. “Well, what about you then? Have you asked Sicheng out yet?”

Yuta says nothing for a long moment and then mutters so quickly, Jaehyun would have missed it if he wasn’t already within earshot. “Nope, I haven’t.”

It isn’t what Jaehyun was expecting. He’d thought Yuta would have laughed, like he was ready to spill the details about how they’ve been out on a few dates and that he wanted someone to finally ask him so that he could gush about it properly. Or even saying that he’s moved on from Sicheng because he has his eye on someone else now wouldn’t be surprising, “It’s been months since Sicheng’s first appointment. I thought you made your move in the first two weeks, got rejected and then moved on.”

“I mean, I didn’t really.” Yuta shrugs carelessly as if this whole thing is no big deal. “And I won’t ask him. I know he’s single though, so that’s cool.”

Not once, in the time that Jaehyun has known him, has Yuta not taken the opportunity to ask out someone he had his eye on.

Sometimes he hesitates, but he usually ends up shamelessly flirting anyway, since by his logic he ‘has nothing to lose’, and that was the truth. Whenever Yuta got rejected by someone, he never dwelled on it long either — instead, he laughed it off and moved on so quickly that it’s become normal to see him mooning over someone new within weeks.

It was normal seeing him like that, shameless yet confident in his pursuits yet also never crossing any boundaries that aren’t supposed to be crossed. But now he’s quiet, almost pensive and when he makes no indication of elaborating any further, Jaehyun presses on.

“If he’s single, then why didn’t you ask him out yet?”

Yuta sighs like a wartime wife waiting for her husband to return home, suddenly staring up at the ceiling like a lover’s lament. “It was just not meant to be. He’s too far away and too unattainable, Sir.”

“I’m being serious here,” Jaehyun tries to say sternly and Yuta snickers, immediately breaking character.

“Honestly, it’s nothing,” Yuta says reassuringly, and squeezes more dye pigment into his bowl. “I just think he’ll reject me and I don’t know if I can handle any more of that.”

Oh.

This is new, at least to Jaehyun because again, he’s always known Yuta to be bold in his love life. Yuta, the one who told him to never be afraid of rejection because ‘that’s not what life is about’ and the one who’s like an open book in nearly all aspects of his life.

But of course, even a person like Yuta keeps their hidden insecurities tucked away so far out of sight that you forget that they’re still there.

“How do you know that though?” Jaehyun asks quietly, repeating the question Yuta asked him previously. “You haven’t spoken to him, have you?”

“That boy doesn’t even want to give me the time of the day. I try to talk to him whenever he’s doing a dye, but he plugs his earphones in and reads this hard looking Chinese novel or he watches skating videos,” Yuta says miserably. “I think he has a crush on Hanyu Yuzuru or Uno Shoma. One of them, at least, because they’re on his phone’s lock screen.”

So this is the reason Yuta’s been consistently less enthusiastic than usual.

Jaehyun has never seen him look like this, even after all the breakups that he’s seen. And over the same boy too. One that Jaehyun knows fairly well, which makes it even stranger seeing that this is watching two of his closer friends cross paths and tangle together.

On one hand, he feels somewhat guilty that he hasn’t really been paying much attention to this development with both of them amongst his own woes over Doyoung. He’s picked up hints from when Sicheng does come by for his appointments, only for Jaehyun to slip away momentarily for other matters and would vaguely notice that Yuta hangs by him a lot – only, Jaehyun hadn’t put two and two together.

On the other, he’s just never had the thought cross his mind that Yuta would be hung up over _Sicheng_ out of all people.

Jaehyun’s eyes takes in Yuta’s deflated form. “Do you want me to talk to him? I can put a good word in for you.”

“Nah, it’s okay,” Yuta sniffs, beginning his stirring and folding again. “I don’t want to push it or even think about it, so it’s whatever. Anyway, this isn’t about me.”

He sets the bowl to one side before carefully stripping himself of the plastic gloves.

The newly mixed dye looks like frosting, if it wasn’t for the stinging smell that gives it away. Jaehyun shifts away from the shelf that Yuta now begins to root through carelessly. “I think you and Doyoung should talk it out instead of walking around each other — Where the hell is the foil?”

“Oh, here! Sorry hyung. Had to do some prep for Jooyoung noona,” Jaemin pops his head around the door of the storeroom timely, arm outstretched with a half-used roll.

Yuta accepts it with a grunt, proceeding to pull out several inches of sheets before tearing them.

“How long have you been listening?” Jaehyun asks Jaemin, more flatly than he intends it to be. He’s not mad, but it’s embarrassing having the younger hear about how poorly his hyungs are faring in their love lives, when he himself is doing great with Jeno.

Jaemin embodies the picture of innocence when he replies, “Just from when Yuta said he hasn’t asked Sicheng hyung out properly.”

Yuta looks up, blinking in shock. “Huh? You call Sicheng ‘hyung’?”

“Yeah? He’s my hyung.” Jaemin grins proudly. “In fact, he’s probably my favourite hyung out of everyone I know. He recommends really cool webtoons.”

“What about the mangas _I_ recommend?” And then he rolls his eyes. “Okay, we get it, you and Jeno have ‘been there and done that’ with the whole asking out thing, and Sicheng is some next level god, but there’s really no need to rub all that salt in.”

Jaemin’s eyes widen with glee. “I’m going to tell him that you think he’s a god.”

The cracking sound of foil stops. “Na Jaemin, you have two seconds to get out of here before I throw this at you.”

+++

  
Doyoung has an appointment booked in for seven in the evening but doesn’t turn up until nearly twenty minutes past his slot, dressed in a big hoodie and some slacks. Jaehyun feels his worry grow when he notices the slower movements Doyoung takes and the spaced out expression he wears whilst Yangyang rattles off the new evening menu to him, clearly only half listening.

“Are you okay? You seem tired.” Jaehyun pats Doyoung on the shoulder lightly once Yangyang makes his exit, eyes concerned.

“Yeah, don’t worry. I had a long shoot last night for a concept video and I haven’t really gotten much sleep. Had a teaser shoot today too which overran because someone forgot to transport the last rack of clothes needed for it in time,” Doyoung explains, carefully removing his face mask and letting it drop into his lap.

He leans his head back in an attempt to finally stretch and relaxes, exposing the length of his neck and Jaehyun retracts his hand quickly.

“Sorry for being so late,” Doyoung says quietly, rubbing his eyes.

“No, I’m sorry you’re here again instead of getting a lie in at home. I promise it’ll be quick.”

Jaehyun runs a hand through Doyoung’s coarse locks, grimacing at the brittleness of it. Thankfully, all Doyoung is here for today is a deep conditioning treatment. He physically couldn’t bear to add to anymore damage on the poor boy’s locks. “Must be tiring having to dye your hair all the time, but I know you can’t help it. It’s your job, but your scalp has to pay the price for it.”

Doyoung chuckles, his fist flying up in an attempt to muffle his giggle. “My scalp is fine, don’t worry. It’s been awhile since I went with such a striking colour and I’ve been doing conditioning masks like you asked me to.”

The certainty in his voice wants to make Jaehyun believe him too, but he’s a colourist and the worry runs through him when he looks back down again at the current state of Doyoung’s hair, unforgiving and bare. He doesn’t think Doyoung’s been booked in for another hair conditioning in the next two weeks, and makes a mental note to do so for next week.

“Bleaching your hair just once is damaging enough, especially when you‘re constantly going from dark to light colours. And yet you come in here almost every two weeks, sometimes every two days,” Jaehyun finds himself arguing. He runs his hand again through Doyoung’s current chestnut colour, feeling the strands in his fingers. “I know you’ve been taking proper care of it now, but still. It’s not healthy. Does your company want you bald before you’re even in your thirties?”

“No, but I don’t really have a choice. So at least, I have you to take care of me and my hair even more then,” Doyoung says, smiling.

There’s warmth in his voice, a slight teasing tone that makes Jaehyun huff out a laugh despite the fluttering at the bottom of his stomach, threatening to be let loose into the world.

It’s a less busy time of the day once it hits the evening. Most people finish up by seven, with only a few staying longer if they were doing a long dye job. Yuta’s busy with Onew, a rather smiley businessman who’s here for a quick roots top up, and so Jaehyun isn’t surprised to find the hairwash area empty.

He guides Doyoung to an empty basin, carefully rearranging the towels on him before turning on the tap.

“Is the water okay?”

The water seems tepid to Jaehyun, but it’s always polite to ask the customer if they found the temperature satisfying lest they were more sensitive to it. Sometimes shyer customers wouldn’t even bring it up if they weren’t asked and the last thing Jaehyun wanted was to put them through any discomfort throughout the appointment.

“Yes,” Doyoung breathes softly, dark eyes fixed upon Jaehyun so unashamedly that it’s almost piercing. “The water is okay.”

Jaehyun feels heat crawling up the back of his neck and up to his ears, but belatedly averts his gaze and clears his throat. He takes two pumps of the shampoo, carefully rubbing his hands with little amounts of water before applying them to Doyoung’s hair. It goes onto his hair smoothly, his locks drenched through and Jaehyun works his way dutifully, making sure that nothing drips towards Doyoung’s face by making a shield with his hand whenever he washes towards the hairline.

It’s a process that he’s used to. Shampoo through, rinse, conditioner, rinse, spray and then towel. He’s done this so many times, can probably do it in his sleep. He feels like a new trainee now, fumbling the way through yet at the same time taking the utmost care in making sure that he’s doing nothing wrong. Jaehyun finishes off the shampoo, rinses off completely and stands still for a moment, watching the remainder of the water run down the sink before letting his gaze float back up.

Doyoung is still staring at him, except his eyes are now fluttering half lidded, like he’s trying to stay awake to watch Jaehyun.

Most customers either watched the TV screen hanging overhead, but others just darted their eyes everywhere but at the stylist who was washing their hair. It saved them a lot of awkward eye contact and throat clearing, but Jaehyun finds that it’s incredibly difficult to do so when he’s the one being stared at, and in such a blatant manner.

“Your eyelashes are really long,” Doyoung says in an exhale, blinking. “They’re pretty.”

Jaehyun lets out a small laugh. “Thanks. I grew them myself.”

It feels dangerous.

Even like this, there’s something in Doyoung’s expression that’s different today, and it makes Jaehyun anxious. Like he’s waiting for something to happen or wanting something he shouldn’t be wanting. But Jaehyun shouldn’t assume, right? He can’t assume anything, it’s just water and he’s just doing his job washing the suds out of his customer’s hair.

_Anyone can see the way he looks at you._

Ever since he spoke to Yuta, Jaehyun has begun to read too much into things. He hates the thoughts that have now been planted into his head, because there’s no way this is anything more than what it is.

But then what is it?

Doyoung likes to look at people head on, because he likes to make direct eye contact with people to show that he’s fully listening and paying attention. It’s clear in fan videos of Doyoung at fansigns, where he would always make contact with his fans and smile at them whenever they talk to him.

Sometimes, it’s like he can see through people. The way his eyes bored into Jaehyun when they first met, not quite critical but enough to make Jaehyun feel seen. Doyoung’s features are all soft and graceful – all with the exception of his eyes, as prettily shaped as they are. Despite it having softened over the months that he’s come to Empathy, it’s clear that it’s still not entirely relaxed, still shut off to the world.

But under Jaehyun’s gentle gaze and hands, it’s different. When Jaehyun finally thumbs gently at the skin above his ear to wipe at a stray droplet, Doyoung lets out a shuddering sigh, eyes falling shut.

But as much as Jaehyun didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Doyoung, the moment he thinks about it, he accidentally moves the shower head too high, and water droplets begin to land on Doyoung’s cheeks like the start of a light rain shower. Immediately, Jaehyun stops the water and drops the showerhead. “Oh my god, Doyoung, I’m so sorry. Hold on, let me grab a towel.”

Of course, he had to mess up somehow.

But Doyoung only breathes out a soft laugh in reply when Jaehyun moves away to pull a towel off a shelf, not even that flustered at getting wet himself. It’s only when Jaehyun turns back around with a towel in his hand does Doyoung reach out for him, fingers circling around his wrist gently.

“Jaehyun.”

The contact sets Jaehyun’s skin alight, his pulse throbbing and heart hammering loudly. There’s silence between them now, with only the quiet background sounds of a variety talk show playing on TV and the muffled chattering in the main salon space.

Jaehyun’s heart rate knows no bounds, when he sees the way Doyoung flickers his gaze to his lips and swallows.

He’s in trouble.

Leaning over Doyoung like this only makes him feel like he’s teetering on the edge of a cliff, never to emerge again from the depths if he lets himself fall.

It’s not just a customer and employee relationship that he’s toeing the boundaries for, but also one between an idol and a normal person. But in this space, looking at Doyoung like this, Jaehyun decides then that maybe this is it, that he’ll actually cross lines and damn it all.

Doyoung’s breath is hot as it fans across Jaehyun’s face, and they’re close, so close that Jaehyun almost loses his mind when Yuta comes strolling in, laughing loudly at something Onew is saying to him, and he pulls away as though he’s been burned.

Quickly, he dabs at the water carelessly on Doyoung’s face with the towel, his ears already as red as a beetroot.

The appointment finishes after he blow dries Doyoung’s hair, but even then, he only makes eye contact with the other once, right at the end when he bows in respect as he left. The neutral expression Doyoung wore only served to worry him even more.

Tiredly, Jaehyun makes a mental note to follow Jooyoung’s deep breathing exercises more closely.

+++

“And you’re telling me you guys haven’t fucked.”

“Si _cheng_!” Jaehyun kicks the other hard in horror, turning to check that no one else in the vicinity heard the crude words fall from his mouth. Thankfully, it’s late and barely anyone is still hanging around apart from a young couple hunched over a laptop together. “No, because nothing else happened and it’s not like that. Or fine, maybe it is like that but like I said, nothing happened. He didn’t kiss me.”

Sicheng is quiet for a moment, almost contemplative if it wasn’t for the long sip of jasmine tea he was taking. “Okay, so what was it then?”

“I don’t know. Me overthinking, maybe,” Jaehyun mumbles. His own cup of coffee is turning cold, although he can’t exactly tell whether it was because they were still sitting by the coldest corner of the rink’s cafe or if it’s because he hasn’t bothered taking more than a sip since dropping in to catch Sicheng after practice.

“Jaehyun, you didn’t ask to meet me just to tell me you were overthinking,” Sicheng sighs like he’s going through the most tedious task in his skate routine. He caps the bottle of his tea, drops his arms onto the table and leans forward. “It’s because you’re in denial and you know it.”

He slides back into his seat in a way that might come across as smug, but Sicheng’s not that kind of person and quite frankly, Jaehyun can’t find it in him to feel offended even if he was.

He’s right.

In a way, it’s a relief knowing that it’s not just his inner turmoil of thoughts fabricating an entire story. Especially when an objective third party outside of this whole predicament at least agrees with it, and that party being Sicheng, who so far has been pretty no-nonsense in many aspects of life. Including trying to figure out what the hell Doyoung means by nearly kissing Jaehyun during his hair wash.

“I just...I don’t know what I’m meant to do. Or how I’m meant to act around him now, as stupid as this sounds.”

“You know, things like this sometimes would just be better off resolving through open communication right?” Sicheng asks. “Just talk to him and find out where you guys stand now.”

Again, that’s easier said than done. Jaehyun might be a confident person, but he’s not sure if he wants to bring up such a topic out of the blue to Doyoung. What would he even say? _So, were you trying to kiss me when I was washing the soap out of your hair that day because you like me? Or am I okay to think that there was just something on my face you were trying to help me remove?_

Plus, he’s not that shameless yet. Living with Yuta has definitely opened Jaehyun’s eyes more to it. But even then, it’s still not quite the right moment to interrogate the other man over something like this. The thought of it makes him curl his toes.

“Is there another way to do this?” Jaehyun says weakly, more like a statement than a question. He finally takes a sip of the coffee to calm himself. “It’ll be so awkward. I don’t know how you’d expect me to bring it up.”

Sicheng frowns, and then does that thing where he darts his eyes side to side when he’s trying to focus on too many things at once. “Still, it’ll be good to clear the air and know for sure what’s going on… unless you’re planning to show it to him.”

“Uh, what do you mean show it to him? Sicheng, this isn’t a declaration of love here.”

“I know that, but since it’s awkward talking about it, maybe just... some small action would help push things in the right direction.”

Small action? Jaehyun almost laughs at the word choice. It reminds him Sicheng is still learning Korean even though he’s been here for the past two years. “Do you mean doing things that might initiate stuff? To see how he’ll respond?”

“Yeah, that.” The lighting of the cafe highlights Sicheng’s reddening cheeks. “You seeing his reactions might give us a better idea of what he’s trying to say.”

But Jaehyun doesn’t want to play mind games. It feels kind of stupid, almost like a high school romance where the protagonists are trying to see who can make the other more jealous by riling each other up. Except, this isn’t high school anymore, nor is Jaehyun trying to make Doyoung jealous – he’s just confused. 

Sicheng must sense the hesitation in him, for he begins to backtrack. “Or just fuck him and call it a day, I don’t know. Either way, it’s a win-win.”

“Oh my god, Sicheng, I’m not going to fuck him. Also, please tell me you don’t make bad puns like that in front of your fans. That was terrible.”

Jaehyun feels like maybe this is the right time to bury himself in a pile of dirt and wait for the end. It seems the most appealing out of everything right now.

Sicheng just shrugs innocently. “They gave me my stage name, so I can’t help it.” He fiddles with the bottle of jasmine tea like one would do with a toy bowling pin. “Fine, so don’t go overboard with it. Be subtle. I can’t handle you coming in to see me after doing something embarrassing in front of Kim Doyoung and then having another breakdown here anyway.”

The rest of the americano goes down Jaehyun’s throat like water before he sighs. “Mhm, sure thing my friend. As if you don’t find my sad problems funnier than Junho’s skating.”

The smile Sicheng shoots him makes Jaehyun want to kick him again.

+++

But the next time Doyoung comes into the salon, he doesn’t come alone.

Short, wavy hair with doe-like eyes, Kim Sejeong greets Sunyoung and Seulgi behind the desk with a wide smile and from the excited chatter, it sounds like a long overdue reunion between old friends. They probably are old friends, seeing that Sunyoung used to be in the musical theatre scene and was signed under Sejeong’s company.

It’s funny, because he can also see how closely they’re standing to each other and maybe he sees them holding hands, but then again Jaehyun doesn’t have the best eyesight. Not that it would matter though, it shouldn’t, except Jaehyun is wholly confused that Doyoung hasn’t mentioned coming

Jaehyun knows Sejeong.

Only vaguely, since they never properly crossed paths. But he knows that she’s a new and budding idol actress from an established company. Onscreen, she’s loud and sunny. Her smile is incredibly infectious and it’s hard not to acknowledge how likeable she is with her warm personality. Her sunscreen and skincare ads have also been everywhere recently, and she’s in a 9PM melodrama as one of the main leads, a show that Yuta often tuned into when they were home with late dinners.

She’s the Nation’s Little Sister, a testament to how sweet and well loved she is to everyone.

Ten calls him over to the styling space fifteen minutes later and Jaehyun keeps his expression in check. His heart, however, squeezes traitorously at the sight of Doyoung as he approaches them, palms traitorously growing clammy. He looks pretty today, in a simple black polo shirt and faded jeans. Doyoung always looks pretty.

“Jaehyun.” Doyoung clearly looks surprised to see him, like a deer caught in the headlights. “I didn’t know you were working today.”

Yeah, Jaehyun didn’t know he was meant to be working today either, but then Sicheng messaged him in the morning asking if he was free to go through some styling options for an upcoming competition. He offered to bring along some ice popsicles to the salon as thanks, and of course, Jaehyun couldn’t say no to free treats.

Shaking his head like he’s just remembering his manners, Doyoung gestures to Sejeong. “This is Kim Sejeong. She recently signed with our company as a soloist, and I thought it would be great to recommend her to Empathy.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sejeong,” Jaehyun says in a breath, smiling and bowing courteously at the girl in the chair. “Thank you for choosing to come to Empathy. I hope you enjoy your time here. Ten’s going to be your stylist, so I know you’re in good hands.”

Sejeong is lovely. She’s prettier up close and her slender hands are warm when they shake hands. Her and Doyoung would make a good-looking pair, looking like the type of instagram couple who goes cafe hopping every other weekend and colour coordinates their outfits in soft pastel colours.

There’s really no reason why Jaehyun should feel off about this, but he does know that he doesn’t want to be here.

“Ah, it’s so great to finally meet you in person,” Sejeong is saying now, her smile so genuine that it somehow makes Jaehyun feel worse. “I’ve heard so much about you from Doyoung! He talks about you a lot, so it made me really curious about you in real life.”

“Oh? I had no idea Jaehyun and Doyoung were this close.” Ten is absolutely going to grill him after this if his face tells Jaehyun anything. “Jae, could you grab me the Dyson hair dryer from the B drawers and ask Yuta for the colour charts? There’s still some time before your appointment, but I’ll be done with it by the time you need it.”

Jaehyun’s not trying to be rude.

There’s no reason why he should act or feel this way, it definitely shouldn’t matter to Jaehyun that Doyoung’s brought someone else in on a day that Jaehyun isn’t on shift for, but somehow it does and he absolutely hates it. The most appealing option now would be to keep out of any direct contact with either of them and go about his own work. Yuta eyes him carefully when Jaehyun relays Ten’s request, and the hint of concern in his gaze says enough for him.

When Jaehyun returns, Ten and Sejeong are gone. Doyoung looks up from his phone and Jaehyun only offers him the briefest smile when he realises Doyoung keeps his gaze levelled on him, instead of turning his attention back to his phone.

He starts untangling the wire knots from the seasoned hairdryer. Jaehyun often likes doing this chore, finding it mind-numbing enough to enjoy it as a stress reliever whenever he’s troubled by something. They usually come undone easily, especially during the times when he stares into space and lets his hands do the work for him.

The knots seem impossible when he can feel Doyoung’s steady gaze on him.

“Do you need help?” Doyoung pipes up at last, and Jaehyun snaps out of his stupor. Doyoung points at the particularly stubborn knot that Jaehyun is now working on. “I’m good with my fingers.”

“Ah, no it’s alright. This is my job and I enjoy doing this.” Jaehyun can’t help but wince internally at his own blunt reply, but keeps his resolve intact. “Would you like a glass of water? Or tea?”

It’s the nerves that are ruining him.

Pushing him straight from grace and into autopilot mode. His fingers start to fumble uselessly and he inwardly curses at his decision to untangle the knots out here instead of escaping to the staff room

“Oh, I—“

“Yangyang will be able to serve you a cup now. Sejeong can be served a little later once she’s ready. Or if you wish, you may also order her drink now. You can also order anything from the restaurant menu and it can be delivered during the appointment. Payment is required at the end when you f—”

“Jaehyun.”

Jaehyun blinks, finally slowing his actions. “Yes?”

“You told me all of this when I first came into the salon,” Doyoung says gently. There’s a slight lilt in the other’s voice, insinuating that there is only amusement and good intentions in his words. “But sure, if you don’t mind. I’ll have some water now and Sejeong can decide later what she likes.”

It’s polite, the way Doyoung refers to Sejeong. Jaehyun had half expected him to list out her order like a doting boyfriend, but he smothers his surprise and cracks a small smile.

Already putting down the machine and turning away to fetch a glass, Jaehyun only halts when Doyoung reaches out and catches him by the elbow, pulling him back a step.

“Jaehyun?”

“Mm?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jaehyun doesn’t expect to see Doyoung frowning when he turns back around, but he is. “You seem… off today.”

It takes him a breath.

“Nothing, it’s just… you seem so formal with me. Like it’s the first time we’re meeting. You haven’t even looked at me once since I walked in.”

Doyoung sounds confused and somewhat hurt that it makes him feel _bad._

Mustering up another sunny smile, Jaehyun shakes his head and settles for the most plausible excuse that he can conjure up. “I’m just feeling a bit under the weather and I’m just trying to get through the day. It’s nothing, don’t worry, hyung.”

Technically, it’s not a lie. Jaehyun doesn’t understand why he’s feeling this way, seeing Doyoung with his girlfriend.

Maybe Ten’s right - he needs to be going out on dates and meeting new people instead of feeling jealous over other people’s relationships. That’s the only reasoning he accepts, pointedly ignoring the quiet dullness settling in his chest at any other intrusive thoughts.

“Oh. Are you alright? Did you catch a cold from before?” Concern seeps its way through Doyoung’s words and his brows knit together when he reaches up to hold a soft palm against Jaehyun’s cheek, and then to his forehead.

The touches ignite warmth and this only becomes slightly more distressing to Jaehyun when he feels his ears begin to burn red. Doyoung is so close, almost too close, dragging back the memories of the night by basin in hot flashes and already, Jaehyun knows he’s fucked.

He somehow stays unmoving as Doyoung continues to check over his temperature, breath warm on Jaehyun’s skin. There’s only the sound of breathing and the loud beats of his heart that Jaehyun can hear now and suddenly, he’s glad that he decided to put the hairdryer down. Sunyoung would not be happy with broken equipment.

“You’re a bit warmer than usual, but I don’t think you’re running a fever,” Doyoung frowns after letting his hand drop and Jaehyun feels like crawling into a ditch and sitting there for hours. “You should take some honey water and get more sleep. The weather’s been much colder these days.”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun manages to say, smiling amicably. “I will. Don’t worry about me, hyung.”

He thinks the conversation is finally over and that Doyoung will let him go so that he doesn’t do anything stupid, but then he reaches out to clasp a hand around Jaehyun’s arm, keeping him in place. Jaehyun tries to ignore the coldness of his fingers pressed into his skin.

“...I heard from Ten that you’re only in today for one of your regulars,” Doyoung says with hesitation, like he’s just told Jaehyun a secret that he didn’t want to divulge. His grip on Jaehyun’s hand is firm, although it loosens a little when Jaehyun finally meets his eyes. “I know it’s not me, but I was actually kinda hoping that it would be both of you today. I’ve been saying to Sejeong that you guys make a good team, so it’s a shame you won’t be here for much of her appointment.”

Doyoung’s cheeks are the lightest shade of pink. It’s enough to render Jaehyun speechless, both out of confusion and awe. He didn’t expect to see Doyoung today, considering his name wasn’t keyed into the system. No one probably knew that he would be accompanying Sejeong, and Doyoung knows that Jaehyun isn’t on shift today.

_So why…?_

“I wasn’t meant to come in, but he’s a good friend of mine and needed some help so I’m just here to help him out.”

“I see,” Doyoung says, and then bites his lip like he’s thinking. “Are… Are you here for long afterwards?”

Jaehyun opens his mouth, ready to say no, because he has dinner plans with Yugyeom and Dongmin, seeing as they haven’t had a proper catch up in a long while. But then, the way Doyoung’s asking makes him rethink for a moment, his tone calm yet he’s looking at Jaehyun resolutely and with intent shining in his eyes. It doesn’t seem like he’s asking out of politeness.

The chance for a reply ends, however, when Ten and Sejeong suddenly reappears around the corner, the latter with a towel wrapped around her head.

Ten raises an eyebrow at Jaehyun, almost cheeky, like he’s walked in on someone playing spin the bottle in the closet. Out of instinct and embarrassment, Jaehyun steps away too quickly, bowing quickly as the pair neared them.

“I’ll get Yangyang to bring you some water now,” Jaehyun says in parting, plastering on a smile.

He is aware that Doyoung is still staring at him, even after he leaves, but Jaehyun's ears are hot and he’s not ready for the onslaught of questions that Ten probably already has lined up for him.

He’s not even meant to be here anyway.

By the time he finishes with Sicheng, Seulgi tells him that the pair have already left. Jaehyun slips his phone out as he heads out the door.

**ME**

**[5:19PM]**

hey hyung

sorry i didn’t see you leave or said bye

are you okay though?

**doyoung 🐰**

**[5:27PM]**

it’s fine, don’t worry about it! 😊

you looked busy hahah and i had to drop sejeong off since she has a schedule

**ME**

**[5:32PM]**

ahh right 

i hope she had a nice time. she’s very nice.

**doyoung 🐰**

**[5:27PM]**

:)

i’ll let her know 

+++

The mandatory press conference passes with a breeze, but not without struggle.

It’s the one that mostly focused on the high profile fashion show Empathy would be taking charge of at the end of the year and their current plans on it. They aren’t doing it too high-scale, but it’s big enough to warrant a proper press release seeing that most of their celebrity customers have been invited to model or attend the show as guests. Judging by the number of people in the room and all the cameras, it’s likely that they’d see a huge turnout with all the publicity this is getting.

Jaehyun spends most of the conference diligently sitting between Jaemin and Jooyoung, and answers questions about his styling with practiced ease and charm.

A reporter does make a side joke about Jaehyun being so handsome that customers would flock to Empathy just to see him, one that Jaehyun has heard many times, but it still earns a short laugh from everyone and he smiles for the camera as though this is the first time hearing it.

Public appearances are fine to go through every once in a while, as long as they don’t do it too often. The audience though, all made up of reporters and photographers, is usually the hardest thing to look at.

Camera flashes go off too quickly and there’s too much clamour and pushing when a speaker isn’t on the mic, which only serves to remind Jaehyun of how tiring it is a life for those who constantly have to do this.

It’s the little things that you don’t really think about until you’re sitting through it. He worries that his tiredness would show on his face, worries that they’d catch him looking less than presentable in front of so many people, worries that it’ll make the salon look bad. It’s even harder to imagine that others like Doyoung would be subject to this more often than they were, which were dependent on the number of projects they would take on.

Doyoung, who has to be in front of the camera at least eighteen out of twenty-four hours of a day, constantly watched as he ate, sang and even slept.

Once, he had to do a daily vlog episode involving a cameraman tagging along to a hair appointment and even though Jaehyun has been trained for it and knows how it the process goes, the stab of sympathy for Doyoung had washed over him in waves after he finally waved bye to the camera and then proceeded to doze off in his chair, all within minutes of the crew leaving.

He wonders what the other must be doing now and if he was getting enough rest.

Knowing him, Doyoung would be going over his new scripts again or recording a new cover for his fans. Works too hard, rests too little. Jaehyun as an idol would do the same, except he would spend his downtime in a less productive manner, focused more on letting his brain breathe. Then, his brain makes the impulsive decision to think about what it would be like if Jaehyun was an idol _alongside_ Doyoung. It’s a dangerous thought to have, one that he doesn’t really want to think about, when the possibilities on how their friendship would turn out seem endless.

Figuring out the reality is hard enough, let alone indulging in daydreams.

By the time the conference finishes, Jaehyun’s relieved to find out that they’re finally headed to the after party held by some higher up executive – and also to celebrate Mi-do’s birthday – meaning he was able to finally sit down and get a proper drink. God knows whether it’ll be of much help in getting his thoughts in line and not just on Kim Doyoung, but Jaehyun will take it either way.

“It’s not that strong this time,” Yuta frowns after a round of tequila later, causing both Jaehyun and Ten to whirl around and regard him in utter disbelief. He frowns even more when he notices their looks. “Don’t look at me like that! I’ve tried worse things at this club and this is pretty light in comparison.”

The club in question is one of the most famous clubs in Seoul and classier than most, located on the expensive side of Gangnam. The venue had almost eighty tables and private rooms, along with several cocktail bars and a huge stage, accompanied by a huge LG LED screen and a surround sound audio system. It’s a hotspot for many people, from business workers to college students and celebrities alike, so Jaehyun’s not surprised when they see several familiar faces dotted throughout the club.

“Guys!” Kang Younghyun calls from his table as they’re returning to their party group with more drinks, the biggest smile on his face adorning his features. “It’s been way too long since I last saw you guys! Nice to see you finally

At Younghyun’s table, Jaehyun also spots Johnny Seo and Son Seung-wan, both also getting up to say hello. They’re Sunyoung and Minho’s regulars, ones that popped in less often but would stay the longest whenever they did, seeing as they all go a long way back and their appointments permitted them a mandatory catchup each time.

“I heard you guys just had your press con for the upcoming showcase!” Seung-wan shouts with a grin over the sudden blast of music and noisy chatter. “Sunyoung must be so thrilled about it! Is she around? We wanna go say hi to everyone!”

When they lead the three back to their entourage, Jaehyun is amused to see his boss already leaning on Jooyoung’s shoulder, eyes half shut likely out of giddy tipsiness as her girlfriend pats her hair comfortingly. It’s not new to them that she’s a notorious lightweight and tended to keep most of her drinking restricted in the comforts of the home she and Jooyoung shared, but occasionally on big event nights like this, she tended to tag along with the rest of the team and let loose.

There’s a bunch of people at their table now, mostly figures that Jaehyun recognises and are either friends or acquaintances with, although it seems like most people are friends of friends. He picks out Jaemin, Jeno and Seulgi sitting in one corner, engaged in a heated discussion that Jaehyun later finds out was a running bet to see if Sunyoung would be totaled before Jooyoung manages to haul her back home.

Sunyoung, however, shuts down any form of getting smashed when the group approaches and her eyes light up at the sight of them.

“Noona!”

Johnny’s enthusiastic hello is enough to propel Sunyoung straight out of Jooyoung’s embrace and into their three newcomers, as everyone exchanged excited hugs and chatter over the loud bass sound. Quickly, Jaehyun pulls himself away to find an unoccupied seat, ready to wait until he’s moderately tipsy before calling it a night.

He does another three more shots in with Yuta once Ten jets off to dance with Kun, feeling the burn of the liquid down his throat enough to keep him on his toes. This was what he needed.

“Are you going easy today?” Yuta nods at the empty shot glass left in Jaehyun’s hand when he starts pouring the fourth round of tequila into his own glass.

“Yeah, I’m not feeling like a hangover tomorrow,” Jaehyun replies. He doesn’t quite feel the alcohol yet, but he’s sure that it’ll start to hit him in a couple of minutes if he takes another shot. “I think I’m planning to hit the gym and then I’ve got someone at two coming in for a top up colour.”

Yuta shrugs, before tipping back the shot and then leaning forward to lick the salt balanced on the crook of his hand. He pushes a cut slice of lime against his lips, sucking for a second before breaking away. “Suit yourself, but if I don’t make it back home with you later, just leave the hall lights on so I don’t trip and fall over.”

They sit for a bit, before Yuta stands for the bathroom and leaves Jaehyun with a wink, and there’s a brief time lapse, in which Jaehyun doesn’t quite remember how he ended up sitting next to two men whom he didn’t recognise at first.

They look familiar but it’s only when the one closest to him turns his head does Jaehyun realise who it is.

“Oh, you’re Lee Donghyuck,” Jaehyun starts rather abruptly, feeling the boy’s gaze slide onto him in surprise at his name being called. “From Doyoung’s group. Sorry, I didn’t realise who I was sitting next to but it’s really nice to meet you. I’m – ”

“Jaehyun, right?” The voice from behind Donghyuck pipes up and Jaehyun only has to crane his neck a little to see Lee Taeyong, whom he faintly remembers is the leader of NeoV and is supposedly Doyoung’s best friend. His mind somehow registers that if at least two members of NeoV were here, there was a chance that Doyoung would also be somewhere in the club, but so far there’s no sign of him in. “I’m Taeyong! Doyoung has told us a lot about you.”

He should have expected this, seeing that Doyoung has spoken a lot about his members, and more so about Taeyong since they were the closest, but some amount of panic rises in Jaehyun regardless. “Oh, um, yeah he talks a lot about you guys too when we meet. At the salon, I mean, when he comes for his appointments.”

Donghyuck seems to find this funny, for he bites on his lip and his cheeks puff up like he’s about to cough before Taeyong shushes him and makes him switch seats. _Oh no_ , Jaehyun thinks helplessly as Taeyong plops down in his seat in his stead, _here comes the questions._

But there’s none of that. Taeyong asks Jaehyun how things are at the salon, who he’s here with tonight and they chat politely about how hectic their schedules seem to be these days. It’s unexpected but strangely pleasant, and Donghyuck joins into the conversation briefly, although he tells Taeyong that he’s off to get another drink, and quickly disappears into the throng of people once the older waves him off.

Once Donghyuck is out of earshot, Taeyong turns back to look at him, eyes curious. “Have you spoken to Doyoung yet?”

If Jaehyun were a more nervous person, this would be the moment where he’d start wringing his hands together. His mind is as blank as a sheet of parchment paper, because this could go two ways. “No…? Should I have?” And then, carefully, “Is he here with you tonight?”

Something passes over Taeyong’s face as he processes this information. Jaehyun can almost see the gears turning in him, and he’s only known the guy for twenty minutes max. “Oh yeah, he’s around here somewhere! We lost him for a bit but I think he knows we’re by your table, so he’ll be here soon.” He smiles again but leaves it at that, and somehow it leaves Jaehyun more mystified than when he first sat down.

The conversation dies off once Taeyong’s friends find him and when they invite Jaehyun down to the dance floor with him, he politely rejects, but waves back at Taeyong right before the group descends down into the crowd.

He’s alone again, with only a half filled glass of rum and his thoughts.

Jaehyun hasn’t seen Doyoung since his surprise drop in with Sejeong. Of course, they’ve texted and spoken since, but Jaehyun has an inkling that Taeyong meant something else when he posed the sudden question. His expression was enough to tell him that there was something that he didn’t quite know. It seems as though only Doyoung had the answers to that, and with that set in mind, Jaehyun wonders if he should send him a message. It wasn’t the time to talk when he’s starting to fall under the effects of alcohol but at least a message to see if he would like to meet up was something, at least.

As fate would have it, Jaehyun didn’t need to. Looking around again to see if he can catch sight of anyone from Empathy, his eyes fall upon a tall figure pulling along someone shorter closer behind them by the hand, and the breath is knocked out of him.

It’s Doyoung and Sejeong.

They seem to be trying to exit the gaining crowd of people going in the opposite direction of them, and so thankfully hasn’t seen Jaehyun sat at the table alone with his rum looking like a total loser. Jaehyun pulls out his phone anyway, refusing to make any awkward eye contact if they look over.

It’s easier to pretend this way that Sejeong is just one of Doyoung’s friends when he can’t see their intertwined hands in his line of vision. The vivid hint of jealousy does nothing for him, but he couldn’t help but furiously scroll through his camera roll, looking at pictures of Kun and Ten’s newly adopted cat to distract himself.

In this club, one would think it’ll be harder to see someone they recognised if they weren’t in a big group and was just sat hidden away in the corner. There’s too much going on and at least half of the people here were drunk and horny. So it’s a solid theory, except Jaehyun completely forgets that Taeyong had already mentioned Doyoung knew where they were going to be before both he and Donghyuck dipped and left him to his own defences.

He feels someone take a seat next to him, the same one where Taeyong and Donghyuck were originally sat. “There you are.”

Jaehyun really should not be surprised to see that it’s Doyoung when he turns to look around, dressed in a black half-zip top that’s pretty much unzipped all the way to show his collarbones and in some ripped jeans. His hair is surprisingly tame today, the midnight blue that Jaehyun had dyed two weeks ago glinting under the dim lighting and there’s hints of dark eyeliner coupled with eyeshadow dusted on his eyelids. If it were possible that a person could look this sinful without even trying, Jaehyun believes he’s seen him now.

Sejeong is nowhere to be seen.

“I was looking for you,” Doyoung smiles, the tiniest bit of slur in his voice. “I bumped into Taeyong on the dance floor as I was leaving and he said you were here.”

Jaehyun is momentarily blindsided, but he’s more confused at the fact that Doyoung was clearly here with them and Sejeong. His eyes couldn’t have been playing tricks on him, even though his state of sobriety isn’t clearly at its best after a couple of tequila shots and his second glass of rum.

“Well, you found me,” Jaehyun manages to say at last, smiling, and Doyoung beams in response. He doesn’t ask where Sejeong is. “I needed a drink after that press conference.”

“Was it that bad?” Doyoung says teasingly, leaning over to peer into Jaehyun’s cup. “And what’s that? It looks disgusting.”

Jaehyun holds the glass up to Doyoung’s lips, letting the other smell for himself and laughs when he’s met with a displeased nose scrunch.

“Ew. I don’t think I can stomach rum alone. I used to get it mixed with soda when I was at University but my friends all drank it straight from the bottle,” Doyoung recounts, and then shivers at the thought. “It tastes like dog piss.”

This makes Jaehyun laugh even more, only because it’s such a vivid yet specific description. “I used to do that when I was younger too,” He leans closer to shout as the music in the club reaches a high beat and Doyoung can barely hear him. “It depends on the type of rum you buy.”

Doyoung seems to disagree with this still, lips set in a pout as he watches Jaehyun take another sip. “Guess you were part of the hardcore crowd in University then.”

Jaehyun could picture it, if they went to the same university. Again, the idea is entertaining even though he knows that him and Doyoung would be likely part of different friend groups, maybe only joined together by a society or a shared class. He’s surprised though, because if Doyoung went to University, he must have only just graduated recently, amidst his busy idol activities.

“Oh,” Doyoung says, when Jaehyun brings it up. “Yeah, I did half of it through online classes, but the company let me attend class in person whenever my schedule permitted it. It wasn’t easy, but I’m glad I did it. I met some really nice people and got to study at the campus cafe like everyone else. Finals were hard, since we had our comeback at the time, but the members motivated me and I gave it my best shot. It gave me a bit more of a normal life, in a way.”

Jaehyun’s glad too, because he sees the way Doyoung’s face lights up at just the mention of his university life. It must be a different experience for idols, seeing that they juggle both performing and assignments at once, along with the added lack of sleep and stress. Some idols didn’t even do University at all and only focused on their careers.

It’s admirable just how much Doyoung has gone through in such a short span of time.

“I was too ambitious in Uni,” Jaehyun chuckles, causing Doyoung to turn to him now, his interest piqued. “I actually wanted to be a marine biologist, and then I wanted to be a vet. I couldn’t handle the extra classes, and then I kinda had an existential crisis about what I really wanted to do. It wasn’t until I met Ten, and I’m sure he’s probably told you that he already knew that he wanted to be a stylist before he even graduated. One thing led to another, and I found myself liking colour theory and everything that had to do with being a colour tech.”

He tips back the rest of the rum into his mouth, relishing it as it went down his throat. It feels like he’s just spilled a whole chunk of information without much filter, and somehow it just so happened that it’s with Doyoung. Yet, Jaehyun feels strangely at ease. The buzz in him isn’t fading as quickly as he’d expected it to, so it might be the alcohol relaxing him.

Doyoung is quiet, but then he speaks. “I’m glad you ended up finding your way. And you found your way to Empathy too. We wouldn’t have met if that wasn’t the case, and for that I'm glad that it happened.”

Jaehyun smiled at that. He was right. It was hard to imagine what it would be like without having met Doyoung, let alone a life without Empathy.

Working with colour and hair is his expertise and joy, and without it, Jaehyun wouldn't be where he is now.

_Speaking of hair…_

“Your hair looks nice today, by the way.” Jaehyun’s gaze flits to Doyoung’s hair, only to frown when the strobe lighting passes over it. “Wait. Did you not wash it again?” Jaehyun can’t even hide the dismay in his voice as he leans over to start inspecting Doyoung’s hair. “ _Hyung!_ ”

“I did, I did! Don’t worry!” Doyoung splutters, trying to quiet Jaehyun down as though others around them would hear. It's too loud in the club for it though. Doyoung grabs hold of Jaehyun’s hand, finally stopping him with a laugh. “I showered before coming out tonight! Did you think that I would be that gross, Jaehyun-ah?”

“Maybe, who knows,” Jaehyun responds haughtily to be a brat, and luckily it’s received well because they're laughing again.

He isn’t sure if he could handle the way Doyoung’s looking at him like this, carefully, like he’s trying to study and commit his features to his memory. There’s something close to pure fondness in his expression, and Jaehyun can only feel his heart tremble in response. He’s acutely aware that Doyoung is still holding onto his hand, almost subconsciously, but somehow it feels right and he doesn’t pull away.

And then, Doyoung says with a sigh, “You’re really distractingly handsome and I hope you know that, Jeong Jaehyun.”

Jaehyun’s heard plenty of people telling him that he’s handsome in the past. But hearing it from Doyoung’s mouth makes him feel like he’s on the top of a mountain, feeling the sun brush over his skin first before the earth.

He isn’t sure how it happens, but Jaehyun swears that it’s Doyoung who leans in first, pressing his lips hard against his.

It hurts a little, when it’s so sudden but oh, Doyoung’s lips are so soft, all plush and unbearably so, that Jaehyun feels like the dizziness has stopped and started again. He tastes the remnants of alcohol on his lips, and then Doyoung shifts into his lap so that the pressure is better and truthfully, it’s enough for Jaehyun to feel like his heart is bursting. They part for a moment, still close but flickering their eyes all over each other and Jaehyun brings a hand up to gently cup Doyoung’s jaw, just to feel like this is real and that he’s actually holding Doyoung in his lap, arm wrapped securely around his waist.

And then they’re kissing again.

There’s more tenacity this time, pushing it from just testing the waters straight into scorching hot. Doyoung’s fingertips are cold as they press into Jaehyun’s skin but it doesn’t matter, because the moment Doyoung sighs and opens his mouth, Jaehyun is gone. He’s never going back to his shared apartment with Yuta now, never going back into work, he’s perishing right here on the spot without any other thoughts. Somehow, even when their tongues slide against each other and the sounds of the club still boom in the background, Jaehyun begins to grasp at his senses and he pulls away, panting heavily.

Doyoung looks absolutely sinful, his lips swollen red and his eyes still hooded with blatant desire. His face is flushed but all Jaehyun can see is the sheer determination in his expression. He’s never wanted someone this badly before.

“Rum still tastes awful. I prefer blueberry soju.”

It breaks the atmosphere a bit, but Jaehyun is relieved for the slight breather and just laughs, really laughs then. “That’s fine. I like blueberry soju too, but maybe I’ll change your mind about rum by the end of the night.”

+++

When Jaehyun comes into work the next morning, it’s earlier than he anticipates.

His head still isn’t fully there, but he’s definitely missed the main hangover that usually hits by now. There’s a hot water bottle in his bag, once that he’s filled up with peppermint tea to help with any nausea – either for him or for Yuta, who had expectedly didn’t go home last night. With the way the man had been throwing back drinks and his relatively low alcohol tolerance, there won’t be a doubt that he’ll be complaining later on, when he reemerges. Jaehyun hopes that he at least slept in a warm bed or couch.

Seulgi looks up in surprise when he enters.

“Wow, you’re really early. No one else is in yet, apart from Ten because Kun dropped him off.”

Ten, as expected, is in the hair wash area looking slightly disheveled as he sprayed the basins with disinfectant and wiped them down. His eyes are glued on the TV though, and Jaehyun can see that it’s a morning episode of the kids cartoon show, Larva. He used to watch the show with his cousins when they were younger.

“Morning,” Jaehyun lifts a hand up in a partial wave and Ten drops the cloth in shock.

“Jae? Why are you here? You should be coming in later, I don’t think even Sunyoung noona’s going to be around today. The whole BM and Kibum showdown last night got her super out of it and Jooyoung yeeted her out of there real quick.”

His brain doesn't seem to be working this morning. Nothing is. 

“What happened?” Jaehyun asks baffled, but Ten only stares.

“The whole fiasco between Paradise7 and Blossom Talk came to a head last night. I think BM and his staff were being passive aggressive and then somehow, Kibum got insulted and he got everyone on his side to post some stuff publicly on official social media like an idiot,” Ten shakes his head, but he's frowning now. Then, in a tone bordering on suspicion, “Weren’t you there last night?”

_No, because Jaehyun was too busy making out with Doyoung in the club before going home and fucking him senseless._

Jaehyun doesn’t say that though and the shame makes him breaks eye contact with the other, looking away.

Understanding dawns on Ten’s face, faster than quicksand swallowing up a bicycle whole. Sicheng’s shown him one of those videos before and Jaehyun can attest to the absurdity of it with proof, right now with the quick switch of Ten’s expression.

“Was it Doyoung? Did you guys have sex?”

It seems impossible to lie to Ten these days, so Jaehyun doesn’t even bother trying to come up with an excuse. “Yeah, we did. It was great, but he left without telling me this morning without a word.”

Ten gapes at him for a moment, and then composes himself. “Did he leave because he had a schedule or something?”

“Nope.” Jaehyun hadn’t received a single text nor a scribbled note, and he had cleaned his room thoroughly after waking up _and_ washed his bedsheets, so there wasn’t any chance of him missing a slip of paper. “Maybe it’s a sign.”

It’s fine if Doyoung wanted to treat this as a one night stand. He could do that. In fact, a quiet part of him had expected this, and he knows that in some way, he’s already accepted it. The only problem is the growing magnitude of just… feelings that he didn’t originally have. It’s manifested itself now, into an overwhelming gush of fondness that washes over him when he thinks of Doyoung and sees his face.

And for that, Jaehyun only has himself to blame, although there’s still questions in his head that he wishes he has the answers to, although he gets the feeling that this is something that he might not want to hear.

+++

Jaehyun receives a text message a few days later, whilst scrolling through some new Spotify playlists on the bus. He’s thinking of making a trip down to Mapo-gu after work to check out new vinyl releases at a store he frequents, when a Kakao notification pops up.

**TEN**

**[10:18AM]**

jae, have you seen this???

It’s not another photo of a new cat toy contraption that Ten finds after browsing on the internet for five minutes. Ten would have sent him at least three angles of the toy, followed by several exclamation marks and a long paragraph about why he’s about to spend his next paycheck on his cats.

So Jaehyun isn’t quite sure what to feel when instead, it’s a Naver link that opens to a news article, one that floods his screen with pictures of Doyoung and a girl. Confusion might be a better word to phrase it when he reads the headlines.

_BREAKING: NeoV’s Kim Doyoung and GGD’s Kim Sejeong reportedly in a relationship._

The pictures further down the article adds to the headlines - like most dating reports, it features several blurry photos of a man in a dark coat, mask and bucket hat getting out of a tinted vehicle with a woman dressed in almost the same attire. There’s a screenshot of Doyoung’s instagram post from two weeks ago that Jaehyun remembers liking – one of him sat looking straight at the camera in a cafe, eyes bright yet coy. When Jaehyun scrolls down to the next picture, it’s a screenshot of Sejeong’s post in a very similar cafe setting, although the date differs by an extra week.

More evidence of them being a couple is in the article, although less blatant ones such as them sharing eye contact at a music show or greeting each other in backstage shots.

The reaction seems mixed, but mostly positive, seeing that both Doyoung and Sejeong have previously done collaborations in past music videos and appeared together on variety shows. Their chemistry excites people, according to one comment with plenty of upvotes.

Looking at the picture of them again, they suit each other.

Sejeong and Doyoung.

**TEN**

**[10:27AM]**

jae? you there?

i know you’ve seen my messages 

honestly,,,,, idk :/

just lemme know if you’re okay?

**ME**

**[10:30AM]**

i just read it

**TEN**

**[10:30AM]**

I swear to god if this is real, i’ll fight this bitch for you idc

don’t even ask kun to hold me back

he can’t stop me 😡😡😡😡😡

jae? 

:/ text me when you arrive n i’ll come down to meet you w bubble tea

Jaehyun nearly forgets he’s on the bus until a lady catches his attention, asking if the seat next to him is empty. He lets her by with a smile and nod, locks his phone off in the process and lets out an inaudible breath. The bus moves off again.

Sometimes, you just can’t tell whether something is real or fake.

Jaehyun has dipped his feet into the industry; he knows his fair share of secrets and truths, both exposed and kept under wraps from the media. It comes with his job and everyone has signed a non-disclosure agreement when they first joined Empathy. No spreading to news outlets about anything heard anywhere. Truthfully, it’s common sense and doesn’t need to be said.

So unless it was known by anyone else in the salon, Jaehyun keeps the secrets safe – they’re not his to tell and he respects any that gets spilled from a customer’s mouth.

Doyoung hasn’t said anything to anyone. But then again, Jaehyun has no right to know anything and neither is he obliged to know.

He just doesn’t want to believe it yet.

Statistically, half of dating reports are often rebuked quickly by companies citing that the parties involved were just ‘good friends’, or that they maintained a ‘sunbae-hoobae relationship’, and this may very clearly be one of those times. The time on the article states that it’s only been up for about thirty minutes, meaning that there’s the rest of the day to wait.

The rest of the day for a confirmation, either through a company statement or from Doyoung himself. He can wait. Jaehyun’s a patient man, and even if there was nothing today, there might be tomorrow, and the day after too.

He just can’t tell for sure what is worse.

+++

The confirmation doesn’t come from the company or Doyoung.

In fact, it’s quiet apart from the simple statements from both companies saying that they’ve ‘seen the reports and are checking with the artists involved’.

Jaehyun keeps his phone in his pocket when he’s working, so that he wouldn’t miss the telltale vibration of a message or even a call.

No messages come.

Yuta, Yugyeom and Ten offer to team up for a fight the next time Doyoung comes into the salon for a visit. Jooyoung teaches him a new colour technique. Sunyoung treats half of the team to hotpot, piling more beef slices on Jaehyun’s plate despite his weak protests that goes by unheard. They laugh over drinks and good food, joking over plans for the salon’s upcoming 7th anniversary event and slowly, Jaehyun lets loose.

It’s a nice time and for once, Jaehyun doesn’t wonder about Doyoung.

The hurt only comes crawling back at night, cold and unsettling in his bones right before he drifts off into a dreamless sleep.

+++

Sicheng invites him out to lunch a few days later.

“Any news?” Jaehyun is caught off guard at the question, looking up from slicing the piece of cake they ordered to the other man’s bright yet concerned gaze. It’s almost funny how he once viewed Sicheng as someone who was too closed off and cold, only smiling because he needed to for the cameras and the fans, but never for himself.

The media always pushed that agenda onto him; Dong Sicheng, the Prince of Ice.

Maybe when Jaehyun first met him, that was the impression that was automatically imposed onto him, just from the way he carried himself in the public eye alone. His first appointment seemed to amplify the image when Sicheng barely said more than two words to anyone, accompanied only with his manager speaking up for him when asked any questions. The ice only broke once Sicheng bumped into Jaehyun at a kite flying festival and they had started a conversation after moving past awkward pleasantries.

It was a refreshing feeling to find that they shared the same birth year and tastes, and soon enough, Sicheng saw Jaehyun more often after he stuck to using Empathy as his regular salon and they hung out occasionally when he was free from training.

“I can always fight him for you. Just bring him here and leave him in the middle of the ice so I’ll definitely have a head start.”

And somehow through all that, Sicheng has become one of his closest friends.

“You and Yuta are the same,” Jaehyun lets out a weak laugh, finally dropping the fork. “I’m fine, don’t worry. Nothing so far, but truthfully I’m not really expecting there to be now. He’s made his point and it would be wrong of me to do anything else other than respect it.”

“Oh.” The look that Sicheng sends him is strange, although his expression remains mainly disgruntled and vaguely unimpressed. “I’m nothing like Nakamoto.”

That makes Jaehyun laugh before even realising it. They somehow match each other more than they’d think. “How’s your routine coming along? You’re flying to Switzerland in a week, right?”

“Yeah, on Tuesday,” Sicheng sighs like he only just remembers. “It’s going alright but I don’t know if I’m ready for it. The coach thinks it’s a good chance for me to polish my triple axel spin before the finals. I think he just wants to get away early. I do too, in a way.”

Switzerland is gorgeous, at least from what Jaehyun has heard. His cousins who only recently visited the country spoke of the nice scenery and of the nicer locals. “It sounds like it’ll be nice. I haven’t had the chance to go anywhere for the past two years, unless you count a weekend in Jeju working with Lee Hyori-subaenim for a magazine shoot.”

Sicheng shifts in his seat. He looks conflicted. “You work hard. I’m surprised you haven’t dipped out on a quick trip yet. How do you even manage?”

“My job keeps me sane, I guess,” Jaehyun says with a smile. “We joke around about wanting to go on a holiday but I haven’t seriously thought about it yet since there’s no rush.”

This is mostly true, because working at Empathy has never been a chore to him. It’s probably strange, seeing that Jaehyun isn’t a workaholic by any means when he still takes enough time off to hang out with his friends and has relatively relaxed downtime, but leaving Korea for a quick holiday has never really been on the cards, at least not recently.

It just meant less time at the salon. Less time for people he wants to see.

Sicheng seems too casual, almost like he’s just asking Jaehyun what his favourite fruit is, when he says, “You could come to Switzerland with me.”

Jaehyun stares. “What did you just say?”

“Switzerland,” Sicheng repeats simply. “For three weeks, but you can always just come for a week and then fly back. My coach won’t mind and neither will I.”

It’s too bright outside for his brain to fully process this. It’s as if he'd just been handed a Get Out of Jail card for free without question. _“Why?”_

“It’ll be nice to have company. The food’s good and you can go paragliding if you’d like, although I probably won’t join you seeing as heights are awful to me.” Sicheng takes the opportunity to pull the plate towards him now, taking hold of the discarded fork and spooning a huge slice of the cake into his mouth. He pauses to wipe off the whipped cream by the edge of his mouth before speaking again. “I think you’d appreciate it too.”

Sicheng is extending to him a branch, one that Jaehyun knows is incredibly tempting. Here’s an opportunity to get away and clear his mind. He doesn’t have to worry about anything apart from making sure he doesn’t lose his passport and wondering what to have for a meal. He gets to try out different foods, experience the local culture and probably watch Sicheng skate too.

Even if there’s the obvious implication hanging in the air, this is a trip purely for himself.

Logically, Jaehyun would be able to go. Sunyoung probably wouldn’t even blink if he asked her for time off. In fact, he could already picture her fussing over him and making sure he’s packed enough clothing and medicine, just in case of emergencies like she’s his mother, before sending him off on his way at the airport.

So he wants to say yes, because it’s Switzerland and he’ll actually enjoy a change of scenery and have some good food. He’s never been to Switzerland. And he gets to go with Sicheng.

Why is he hesitating?

Sicheng’s eyes are soft in his gaze, something Jaehyun doesn’t expect to see. He already knows. “Just think about it, okay? You don’t have to see it as anything other than a short holiday, and it’ll be nice.”

Jaehyun only offers him a sound of acknowledgement, and then without missing a beat, Sicheng holds out the last bite of cake towards him on a fork, forcing him to lean forward with a sigh to take it into his mouth.

Like a mother bird and its baby.

+++

Jaehyun’s in the staffroom sorting through a new shipment of toners when he receives a phone call. Yuta is in the room with him when Jaehyun picks up his phone, glancing up from taking off his gloves after putting away bowls, but turns his attention back to washup duty.

“Dongmin?”

“Hey Jae, sorry this is kinda out of the blue.” Lee Dongmin’s voice filters through the phone, carefully cheerful. It’s the tone he uses when he’s in his customer service mode and from the loud voices in the background followed by a loud laugh, it’s clear that he’s busy with customers but for whatever reason had decided to call Jaehyun in the midst of it. “But I thought to call you first since… well, you know. You haven’t said anything about it, so I wasn’t sure what was going on.”

“What?”

“Doyoung is here asking Kibum-ssi to take him back on as a regular.”

Oh.

The answer has finally decided to show itself to him and now, Jaehyun can only sit and accept it with careful hands. So Doyoung has decided to go back to Blossom Talk as a customer. Jaehyun should feel happy for him, seeing as that was the original salon Doyoung stuck his allegiance to, before the entire rivalry fiasco went down and he turned to Empathy instead.

He doesn’t know what else to say apart from, “I see.”

“I thought you should know...” Dongmin is saying now, his tone turning soft. Not quite sympathetic, but still unnecessary in this case. Dongmin only knows of Doyoung being Jaehyun’s most frequent regular from when he hangs out with Jaehyun and Yugyeom, so it’s no wonder that he is confused at seeing the man at his salon, requesting to start appointments again with his boss.

Jaehyun just doesn’t understand why there’s a need to feel pity, when once again, he’s doing just fine without Doyoung and the two of them never really had anything between them in the first place.

Sure, he’s admitted to himself that he likes Doyoung more than he should, and maybe he misses him enough to watch Youtube videos of him just so he could hear his voice. But everyone seemed to tread carefully around him these days, too much, like Jaehyun could easily break into tears at any given point in time.

It’s becoming more frustrating than it should be.

“Dongmin-ah, it’s fine,” Jaehyun finally lets out a tired laugh, stopping him in the middle of his sentence. “Let him do whatever. He’s his own person and I respect whatever he decides to do. If he wants to go back to Blossom Talk, then so be it. I don’t want to be selfish and demand an explanation if he’s not ready to give me one.”

It’s what he’s already come to terms with. Saying it out loud just carries both the note of finality and liberation and handed it out on a silver platter.

When he ends the call, it’s quiet. Yuta doesn’t say anything and Jaehyun continues on with the toner checks. When they go home with chicken takeaway, Yuta puts on a film and drags out his own blanket for them to huddle under together.

They don’t say anything.

But it’s a comfort for Jaehyun, and to him, it’s enough.

+++

Jaehyun wakes up on Thursday and there’s an inexplicable want to go jogging.

It’s not unusual, since he goes to the gym at least three times a week after work and often spends a third of his time on the treadmill, but out of preference and his work schedule, going for a jog remained low on his priority list. It’s coincidental that he’s not on shift until later this afternoon, meaning that a morning jog is more than accomplishable, and so after another few moments of stillness, he pulls himself up and out of bed.

Sunlight barely filters into the apartment, still too early to welcome the sun in the autumn, but Jaehyun navigates around the kitchen with ease. Yuta tended to sleep in like a rock on his own off days, although judging by the silence and the slightly messy entrance strewn with their shoes, he’s likely already at work doing an early shift.

Jaehyun prefers it like this though.

There’s not really many chances to enjoy quieter mornings like this. He chooses to work for most days in the week, chooses to come in during the early hours of a day, and works till the late afternoon or evening. Other times, it’s out of responsibility since his appointments get full rather quickly. His customers vary too, and what they’re looking for correlates a lot to how long they’re there for.

A child could come in for 15 minutes with their parents and leave with a proper trim, split ends gone and hair neat. But if a customer wants a full colour, including bleach and highlights, they’re in the salon for ages. Being under Sunyoung’s management, however, means things are flexible, and there’s always someone around in the salon to help look over things if so need be.

He flicks on a small lamp when he lets the kettle boil and carelessly drops a tea bag into his mug. Whilst waiting, he picks up his phone, immediately pulls the slider down on the brightness and taps open his KakaoTalk.

A couple of unread chat notifications from the staff group chat, a quick skim through it telling him that Minho had somehow spilled milk and cereal whilst gaming with Jaemin and one of the other stylists, Sanghyuk last night. Sunyoung’s sent him a link to a new recipe she’s thinking of trying out

He exits and taps open a separate chat window.

Lucas, Kun’s flatmate, often joined him during his workouts. The younger boy isn’t really a morning person, but it was still worth a shot just to see if he’d take him up on the offer to go together, so Jaehyun sends off a message to try his luck.

**LUCAS**

**[7:12AM]**

ummmm but it’s 7

i can’t believe u woke me up for this hyung wth >:( i thought it was something important 

**ME**

**[7:12AM]**

Sorryy

I just feel like running for a bit so thought you’d like to come along

Go back to sleep babe

**LUCAS**

**[7:12AM]**

WAIT

**ME**

**[7:12AM]**

?

**LUCAS**

**[7:13AM]**

can we go for pancakes later

i can be up for that :)

**ME**

**[7:13AM]**

Don’t you have work?? 

**LUCAS**

**[7:13AM]**

nahh i got the afternoon shift today hehe :3

im all yours after your run~

**ME**

**[7:15AM]**

yukhei.

**LUCAS**

**[7:15AM]**

if u don’t go then it’s your loss hyung

u love pancakes

they’re like ur children

a joy in the morning to wake up to even though you have to work for them

**ME**

**[7:16AM]**

that’s….. such a weird analogy

but fine

you’re paying

**LUCAS**

**[7:17AM]**

eyyy 

well then good thing i live with Kun ge!!

bc i’m poor as hell :D

He makes plans with Yukhei for breakfast at a nearby diner recommended by Kun and dresses for his jog. It’s crisp outside, just like he expects, and there’s barely any wind. The weather hasn’t been pretty as of late, so to see clearer skies today is a reassuring sign that it’s a good day for a run.

By the time he reaches the last bus stop that he’s meant to pass before the diner, Jaehyun is out of breath, face flush with sweat. He fishes out his phone again to pause the music, when someone calls out to him.

“Jeong Jaehyun?”

It’s a soothing voice, one that Jaehyun’s brain recognises before he even looks up to see who it is. It’s Lee Taeyong, standing in front of him in a tartan bucket hat and a black KISS shirt.

When he confirms that it actually is Jaehyun, he takes off his face mask, already smiling.

“Oh, hi,” Jaehyun greets, inwardly cursing when he straightens up only to realise that his shoelaces have come undone without him noticing. Every single time, Jaehyun thinks as he shifts his stance so that Taeyong can’t see the untied shoe. Chenle will need to remind him of how to do that shoelace trick again the next time he visits.

“Hello,” Taeyong says pleasantly. “I thought you looked familiar. I didn’t know you lived in the Dongdaemun area.”

It’s funny, because Jaehyun has only met Taeyong once in person, that night in the club with everyone else. Even then, everything is still hazy from his memories. Jaehyun doesn’t have any recollection of him being chummy with Taeyong though, but the other acts as though they’ve been friends for a while.

“I don’t, actually. I live in Insa-dong, but I went for a run. I’m about to meet a friend of mine for breakfast here,” Jaehyun states. He takes the opportunity to steal a glance down at his watch, frowning when he realises that he’s early. Lucas would probably be late as usual, meaning if Jaehyun wants to make a hasty exit from this situation, he’d have to come up with a flimsy excuse before his ears gave him away.

Taeyong nods in understanding and lets out an appropriate ahhh at the explanation. Jaehyun could have sworn he saw his eyes flash with interest at the mention of a friend, but the moment slips away before he fully registers it.

“What about you? Do you not have schedules today?” Jaehyun questions.

“Oh, I’m here with Doyoung actually,” Taeyong answers, beaming just as brightly as the rising sun. Jaehyun is surprised he doesn’t drop his phone right there and then. “He went to chain our bikes up, since we’re taking a stroll down to the Han River, and then back again. It looks like a lovely day today.”

Well, it sounds like a lovely day for Jaehyun to crawl back into bed and reevaluate every single wrongdoing in his life.

“Oh. That sounds nice.” As if searching for any sign that Doyoung could still pop up out of nowhere, Jaehyun looks around and over Taeyong’s shoulder, but is only met with Taeyong’s still smiling face.

It’s unfathomable how Taeyong remains cheerfully sunny almost every single time Jaehyun sees him, whether in person or on screen. He only flips the switch with his image when he’s performing onstage, dark and alluring, an entire 180 turn from the person he usually is. Which is indefinitely a hundred times more tenderhearted than Jaehyun could anticipate. He’s probably up in the ranks of that department alongside Jaemin, who sends heart emojis in his messages

Even now, Taeyong’s smiling like he’s amused by the entire situation. “Would you care to join us? I’m sure Doyoung would appreciate your company.”

Jaehyun can’t help but feel like this is a test, because even though Taeyong’s staring at him with his warm exterior and wide eyes, he can’t read him well enough. Whilst he was able to do so at the club, Jaehyun quickly realises that this is what Taeyong is good at. He could be easy to read if he wants to be, and closes himself off when he might know more than he lets on. He might genuinely not know what has gone down between them, but it wouldn’t surprise Jaehyun either way.

It’ll be the first time he’ll see Doyoung in three weeks if Jaehyun says yes. Except Doyoung is essentially pretending that Jaehyun doesn’t exist. He’s made it clear that he doesn’t even want to see him with the whole switch back to Blossom Talk; Jaehyun tagging along on their outing unannounced might just end up being disastrous and incredibly awkward for them both. Taeyong would be put on the spot and quite frankly,

Jaehyun is tired, too tired to handle another round of tense encounters that he will end up regretting.

And of course, there was also –

“Hyung!”

Both Jaehyun and Taeyong are startled by the sound of noisy footsteps that clap against the pavement harshly, a sign that it’s a pair of seasoned slippers worn by a very excited person running in their direction. Jaehyun can only feel relief swimming through him when he catches sight of Lucas coming down the path, dressed in a basketball jersey and a pair of Havaianas.

“Hyung! I– I was trying to call you, but you didn’t pick your phone up,” Lucas huffs once he grows closer, out of breath but not of exhaustion. “I thought you got lost because most of the cafes around here look the same.”

“Oh, sorry. I put it on silent for my run, and then I bumped into… a friend.” He gestures to Taeyong, who by now is watching them with interest. “Taeyong, this is my friend who I was meant to meet. Lucas, this is Taeyong. He’s a member of NeoV.”

They bow slightly in greeting, Lucas more so at a lower angle. Jaehyun can tell that he’s in awe that he’s in the presence of someone so famous.

“I have plans with him, so I don’t think I’ll be able to join you and Doyoung today,” Jaehyun starts to explain. “It wouldn’t be nice of us to intrude either, but I hope you enjoy your day together.”

Taeyong nods at last, a wry smile on him. “That’s alright! It’s a shame, but maybe next time.”

He doesn’t mention letting Doyoung know that Jaehyun ‘had said hi’ or any of that customary politeness, but watches as Jaehyun and Lucas go off on their way, peering at Google Maps together in search of the diner Kun mentioned.

What Jaehyun doesn’t notice is that further down behind the trees by where Taeyong stood, a figure stands forlornly, a pair of bicycle lock keys clutched tightly in his hand.

+++

Jaehyun has his head down, focused on packing away his tools from someone’s appointment just finished when he hears the front door jingle. He doesn’t look up, but then his actions come to a halt when he hears Doyoung’s unmistakable voice.

“Is Jaehyun around right now?”

Doyoung sounds tired, more so than usual in just one sentence, and for that, Jaehyun can’t stop the worry that runs through him. The mirror hides him well enough so that he can see Seulgi struggle with a response and mentally, he thanks her because even though she’s under no obligation whatsoever to cover for him, the fact that she doesn’t outright expose his whereabouts is sweet.

“It’s fine,” Doyoung is saying now. “I don’t think he wants to see me, but could I leave a message for him?”

Jaehyun watches Seulgi struggle again for a moment more, before he steps away from the mirror to reveal himself. “What’s the message?”

Doyoung is momentarily startled by his appearance, and although two pink spots begin to spread on his cheeks, he recovers quickly. “Can we talk? Preferably alone, but if that’s too inconvenient for you, I can do it here.”

Jaehyun doesn't have to say yes. He wants to be selfish, to demand for Doyoung to leave seeing that he's taken this long to come out and give him an explanation. His jaw tightens at the thought, but then he looks at Doyoung more clearly. He's slightly pale, hair now a dark brown and Jaehyun can see the tired lines on his face, the frown etched in his forehead. 

And Jaehyun is _weak_ , because it's Doyoung.

From the corner of his eye, Jaehyun can see Seulgi keeping her eyes glued on at her computer screen, but clearly failing at trying to prove disinterest in the conversation.

“It’s fine. Let’s go outside.”

They stand apart, right outside the salon but by the stairwell fire escape that no one really used unless of an emergency or if they were like Lucas, who utilized it well for his random exercise sprees whenever he visited the salon. It’s cold, but thankfully Doyoung has a light cardigan on and Jaehyun appreciates the temperature, for his body had already begun to heat up the moment they both stepped into the area.

It’s silent for a long moment.

Jaehyun waits patiently for Doyoung to say something – anything – if it would chase away the creeping awkwardness from this situation.

“You dyed your hair,” Doyoung says faintly at last, eyes roaming all over his hair and then back down at Jaehyun. “It suits you.”

Jaehyun subconsciously reaches up to touch his now black hair. It reminded him of his university days, where he had sported a slight undercut that he eventually grew out. It’s been awhile since he’s gone back to his roots, and it feels good. In fact, it was this that he had chosen, over going to Switzerland with Sicheng so suddenly, and he feels like it was definitely the better choice.

They’ve made alternative plans though, to travel somewhere together by the end of the year and Jaehyun’s already gotten permission from Sunyoung – who had agreed within a second, just as he expected – to take time off work then.

“I appreciated the change,” Jaehyun agrees, finally turning to meet Doyoung’s eyes. “But that’s not what you came to talk to me about, is it?”

He doesn’t intend to come off cold, but maybe he’s said it in such a blunt manner that it makes him feel guilt when Doyoung’s shoulders drop and his expression shutters.

“I’m sorry,” Doyoung says quietly, eyes cast downward. “I’m sorry I ghosted you and left you that morning. I don’t know how I can properly explain it without sounding like a coward, so I’ll just accept that title and tell you now.”

Jaehyun feels like he should brace himself for whatever Doyoung has to say next. It won’t be easy, but at least he has the opportunity to resolve this and go on with his life. Unless –

“Sejeong and I,” Doyoung says haltingly. “It’s not real. It’s not… we’re not dating.”

It feels like he should be sitting down for this, as it seems that they’re headed into a long conversation, and Jaehyun just needed to process things for a moment. He hasn’t read any of the news articles since the last one. Didn’t want to either, out of fear for what he’d see. “Oh. Doyoung, it’s fine. You didn’t need to -“

“No, I needed to say that,” Doyoung cuts in. “I know you must have been confused and you probably think I was a dick. I know that you saw us at the club that night. I wanted to tell you that I was just holding her hand in the club because she was being yanked everywhere on the dance floor, and I had to go save her, otherwise her members would have come for my neck. But then, you just looked at me like nothing mattered and I couldn’t say anything.”

Jaehyun doesn’t get the chance to say anything more, because Doyoung quickly presses on, like he’s been keeping this in for so long and had to say it before he lost his chance to.

“I left that morning because my company called and told me that some people had seen us together in the club, and they were worried that rumours would start to spread. I had to go over and they decided that it would be best if there was a press release about Sejeong and I dating, so that once the focus was off you, I can just come out and say that the reports were false.”

Doyoung looks so small now, still standing there with his arms curled around himself, as though braced for a rejection. “I just didn’t think to tell you about it. I don’t regret that night at all, but I know that by not saying anything, I hurt you. And that’s why I’m a coward.”

It’s with this that propels Jaehyun to move towards Doyoung now, so that they’re standing nearly within an arm’s width of each other. He doesn’t need to hear the rest of it, because he knows what he feels now.

It’s been there all along, waiting.

“Doyoung,” Jaehyun murmurs at last, reaching out to cup his cheek softly, just like he’s done. “Why are you telling me all of this?”

It must be the touch that ignites something. Doyoung looks up at Jaehyun, eyes glassy.

“Because I like you.” The words are careful, but purposeful and full of feeling. “I like you a lot, Jaehyun, all the way from the start and I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you before. I don’t want you to misunderstand anything before anything else even happens. I just wanted you to know. You don’t have to like me back, be–”

Jaehyun has had it and without warning, surges forward to kiss Doyoung so immediately that Doyoung gasps at the contact. He lets Jaehyun hold his face now, tilting so that Jaehyun could kiss him better and it feels like it’s the first time. After weeks of silence and a lack of contact between them, the slow press of tongues feels almost euphoric. Jaehyun knows that this is what contentment feels like, where they’re lined perfectly together and his heart is bursting at the seams.

Their heartbeats beat in tandem.

When they part, Doyoung says nothing more but wraps his arms around Jaehyun's neck and buries his face into the crook of his neck. 

"I'm sorry for hurting you," he mumbles into his skin. "I was being so stupid. I even asked Kibum-ssi if I could go back to Blossom Talk because I couldn't face you. And especially after I actually took the opportunity to make the switch to Empathy completely because of you––"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Jaehyun doesn't pull away, but he does hold Doyoung closer, gathering him in by the waist. "What do you mean you made the switch for me?"

Doyoung sniffles for a moment, but he keeps his face hidden as he says, "The original reason why I came to your salon was because like everyone else, I didn’t want to be involved in the whole Paradise7 and Blossom Talk affair. But then, my brother recommended you guys, or more specifically, you.”

This is what makes Jaehyun draw back in surprise. Gong Myung recommended him? He hadn’t worked with the older actor, apart from the time when he was still Jooyoung’s apprentice.

“I’m flattered,” Jaehyun breathes. “I didn’t know your brother remembered me. I just helped out with Jooyoung noona’s appointments and all I did was prepare colours and did some of his layers. Wasn’t even a fully trained stylist yet.” 

“He saw your potential,” Doyoung affirms, nodding. “I didn’t believe it at first, but I resolved myself to trying Empathy out at least once.”

And then Jaehyun says, "But you kept coming back."

Doyoung giggles, finally looking up. His pupils are wide, really looking at Jaehyun now. “Yeah, because of you. I liked you at the first appointment, and then I continued liking you for the rest of it.” He takes the opportunity to comb through Jaehyun’s hair, a pleased sigh escaping him. “I’d have to thank Ten for all of this, since he’s the one who eventually gave me the rota of your shift slots so I could see when I’d be able to drop in and see you.”

“He _what_? Does he know how much damage your hair has been through?” Jaehyun says incredulously. And then, it clicks. “You let your hair suffer through all these rainbow changes just so you could see me? Hyung, you could have just asked me out.”

“Half of it were actual requirements by the company!” Doyoung is quick to defend, his face growing red again. “And the fans liked it. I made them go crazy thinking that we were having a comeback like every other week. Taeyong and Taeil hyung did warn me about the hair damage, but I knew what I was doing. I had you, so I knew it would be okay.”

The initial exasperation outweighs the annoyance more. Kim Doyoung really had to jump through unnecessary hoops like an absolute idiot. 

Jaehyun sighs, “You trust me too much. I’m no miracle worker.”

He’s already plotting Ten’s demise in his head and in a way that would be acceptable so that Kun wouldn’t come after him, when Doyoung pulls his face down once more to peck his lips. “Even so, it doesn’t matter. I like you, Jaehyun-ah.”

It’s another quiet confession. The warm fluttery feeling comes back in its entirety and Jaehyun smiles at Doyoung, his heart so full and soft with affection.

“I like you too, Kim Doyoung."

+++

**Author's Note:**

> doyoung, i'm so sorry i nearly made you bald.
> 
> thank you for reading this :') this is kinda my first piece of full writing in a very long time (since I just tend to start a lot of WIPs and then end up not finishing it), so it was a bit of a challenge for me too! Please excuse all of the awkwardness in it if you see any + if it seems rushed.
> 
> the song Yuta was listening to at the start is View of Silence by Joe Hisashi! it's something that sicheng knows very well :]]
> 
> comments and kudos are greatly appreciated ♡


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